The day broke over a darkened sky a

The day broke over a darkened sky and showed no signs of turning for
the better by the time the second match started around 9:30 AM.
"It's a fine day today... Hopefully, this will continue into the evening."
"Might get sunny around the evening."
"Though starlight presents its own challenges... Oh well, still better
than a rainy day."
The siblings' conversation seemed to assume that advancing beyond
the preliminaries was a statement of fact. However, Azusa, who was
sitting in a nearby chair, seemed completely "indifferent" with this.
Generally, the difference in strength between Year 1 and Year 2
students exceeded the difference between Year 2 and Year 3 students.
This was because customized magic education officially began at the
high school level.
Thus, if not present during the Newcomers Division, rarely do Year 1
students appear in the Official Division. Usually, players that were
suddenly promoted to the Official Division from the Newcomers
Division had a tough time getting through the preliminaries, not to
mention placing in the standings.
That being said—
(That sort of common sense probably doesn't apply to Miyuki... And
on top of that, there's Shiba-kun as well.)
Excluding her more timid nature, Azusa was undoubtedly one of the
top tier Magicians (chicks) in her cohort. The fact that she was
selected as one of the brass within First High despite her weaker
personality was a testament to her skills.
Yet in Azusa's eyes, Miyuki possessed the power to challenge for First
Place.
Just the sister alone was already a formidable opponent with
superlative skills, now there was an older brother who was fully
supporting her.
Even Mari, the favored champion, would be hard pressed to defeat her
even in peak condition.
While Azusa was contemplating these other details, in reality, she was
the technician responsible for the third match, which is why she was
here so early to help make any final CAD adjustments and system
diagnostics.
The Official Division's Monolith Code and Mirage Bat were the final
two gender exclusive events in the Nine Schools Competition, so each
school's personnel were busy preparing for the events.
First High chose to pair one player with one technician to handle these
two events.
To be brutally honest, as a Technician, Tatsuya was also Azusa's
opponent.
However — before the first shot was fired, regardless of who won or
lost, Azusa's will to compete had completely evaporated.
The earlier incident.
The board sent word that Tatsuya assaulted some of the staff. Upon
learning this, she was more "terrified" than shocked.
Rather than being surprised, somewhere in her heart she knew — "if it
was him".
Even though they were nothing more than recent, casual
acquaintances, Azusa believed that "he wasn't the type to act violently
without cause". On the other hand, if he did have a reason, he wasn't
the sort to hold back.
This readiness to resort to unbridled savagery chilled Azusa to the
core.
A considerable proportion of magic usage fell within the purview of
the military, both in terms of military strength and active deterrents.
Azusa was perfectly clear on this point. But regardless of whether it
was the military or public safety, this was still an institutionalized
"violence". In order to activate this "violence", the responsibility was
divvied between the decision maker, the one who gave the orders, the
executors, and the supervisors.
Yet, he was willing to make the decision, execute, and bear the full
responsibility.
Perhaps, he wouldn't even bat an eyelid if the man had to die —
executed with his own hands.
She was absolutely terrified of that ice-cold heart forged of steel.
The shock came afterwards, when he shared the details behind his
actions.
He came across illegal CAD modifications and apprehended the
culprit on site.
The tear-stricken, tortured expression on Hirakawa, the Year 3 student
who served as Kobayakawa's Technician, was deeply imprinted into
Azusa's eyes. That sort of harrowing regret was easy to imagine and
could resonate with anyone.
She hadn't noticed that the CAD was tampered with. Due to this, a
player suffered a major accident, culminating in an exceptional peer
possibly bidding farewell to her powers forever and being doomed to a
broken life. In the face of that, she... If she was in Hirakawa's shoes,
she might have fled the scene and cried herself to sleep in her hotel
room, Azusa thought.
It was an undeniable fact that Tatsuya was a Course 2 student and, at
the same time, a "dunce".
His technical scores hovered just above passing.