Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 5 - Chapter 3.1

Chapter 3 – Second Day of Training Camp

Truthfully, the four girls in Alisa’s group made no plans other than how long they’re staying at the camp. Hiyori’s wish ‘I want to swim’ is all there is, but even that is at the level of ‘one day, somewhere’. So when they were told “We want you to help us with our training” when sitting for breakfast, the four nodded almost without hesitating.

And right now, the girls were in front of the largest waterfall in the area.

Unfortunately, for Hiyori in particular, they didn’t come here to swim. From here the cliffs that form the waterfall will be used for climbing.

It wasn’t the groundless fears of an amateur that they would be in danger of slipping from the rock face wettened by the splashes of water from the waterfall, so Alisa’s group was asked to be the safety net and catch falling club members with magic.

And it wasn’t ‘just in case’. An hour had not yet passed since they started and the girls had caught three members of the Mountaineering Club and two of the Magic Arts Club.

The reason there were more falls from the Mountaineering Club, who are used to this, is because they are attacking it with determination. Honestly speaking, the ascents from the Magic Arts Club were hesitant.

Even now, Alisa lead a falling Joui to the safe water surface. She actually wanted to carry him to the shore so he wouldn’t get wet, but the Mountaineering Club President told her “Getting wet is a penalty for being reckless”.

Also, there isn’t just one person climbing at a time. Several people are on the rock face simultaneously. In a situation where she doesn’t know when the next person will slip, she couldn’t afford to take care of them until a point beyond the safe surface.

In addition, using magic is tolerated deep in the mountains like this as long as it isn’t a very dangerous technique. Everyone was drying their clothes by themselves.

After an hour passed, the coaching alumnus, Leo, called out to them and said “Okaay, time for a break.”

“Juumonji-san.”

Joui, who had just landed on the shore — that was the third time he fell — walked up to Alisa, still dripping water from his whole body.

“What is it?”

While replying with a question, Alisa invoked a weak magic ‘Dry’ towards Joui. She also considered the possibility that he didn’t dry himself on purpose to cool off, but she decided to interfere needlessly due to the possibility that, though it is summer, he could catch a cold if he stays in wet clothes.

“...Thank you.”

With a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness, Joui thanked her, and then hesitantly began to talk with “There’s something I want you to tell me...”

“Sure, as long as it’s something I can tell you.”

Alisa agreed without thinking too deeply because she has trust in her friend. Even looking at Joui’s expression of someone who’s trying to say something difficult, she had no misunderstandings of the ‘No way, is he confessing?’ kind.

“...I want you to tell me what kind of magic Third High’s Juumonji Tatsuki is good and bad with.”

“Eh!?”

But the question she actually got was something she couldn’t immediately answer.

“Why are you asking about Tatsuki-san?”

Nevertheless, Alisa wasn’t shaken too much. She made direct eye contact and asked Joui what his intentions were.

“I don’t want to have the same regrets as this year next year.”

“Are you talking about the Nine Schools Competition?”

Joui nodded.

“I knew that he was a strong opponent. I gathered information on him beforehand. But I thought it wasn’t fair for me to get information about his skills that nobody but his relatives would know from you, Juumonji-san.“

Joui also knew that if he had asked Alisa, he would have obtained a strategy to beat Tatsuki that would be impossible to acquire through normal investigation.

However, asking for technical information of magic that other families are hiding goes against etiquette, it’s an unwritten rule in magician society. Joui considered asking Tatsuki’s relative Alisa about his information to be a violation of etiquette.

“But I was wrong. No, I was naïve. In that fight, if I hadn’t taken damage from his charging shield magic, I could have won — I think. I believe that if I knew he had that magic, I could have at least avoided decisive damage.”

Not outright asserting that ‘he could have won’ and ‘he could have avoided’ must be a reflection of his earnest personality. It may not be that kind of scene, but Alisa felt warm.

“I don’t expect you to tell me any details about his techniques, that would be against etiquette. What kind of tools he has at his disposal, that’s all I want to know.”

“Okay, I can do that much.”

Though Alisa readily agreed, there was definitely a part of her that was pleasantly moved.

“It appears that Tatsuki-san also talked about my magic to Hiiro-san and the others, after all.”

But at the same time, Alisa had the calm judgement that they were ‘on the same boat’ as well.

Until the short break ended, Joui carefully listened to Alisa with a serious expression.

Climbing training ended before noon. They took the same route on the way back to the boarding house. The Mountaineering Club and the Magic Arts Club were walking in a loose crowd.

Joui was near the tail end of the Mountaineering Club. He walked exhaustedly. He was walking steadily compared to the other first-year students who were dragging their feet, but he had no composure compared to his upperclassmen.

As Joui was in that state, a girl of small stature casually approached him.

“Joey, you look like you’re about to collapse.”

“Koharu? You look well.”

“All we did was use magic, after all.”

“What an enviable position.”

Joui said with a seriously envious look.

As if trying to agitate him, Koharu showed him a prideful smile, but quickly assumed a serious expression again.

“By the way, Joey, what were you talking about with Alisa-san before?”

“Before?”

Joui didn’t answer right away, but not because he was playing dumb or trying to deceive her. His head had just gotten dull from fatigue.

But Koharu interpreted it as a conversation that he couldn’t even talk about to her, an old acquaintance.

“There was a really serious mood going on there.”

Koharu looked into it deeper.

“...Well, I guess. It was a serious discussion.”

Without realizing that, Joui was vague because he was conscious about breaking the rules of magician society.

That amplified Koharu’s misunderstanding.

“Joey, umm... I think you should give up.”

Koharu incorrectly concluded that Joui had confessed to Alisa. Though this wasn’t just a hasty conclusion from today’s conversation, she had been feeling that kind of gaze from Joui towards Alisa for some time.

“Huh? Koharu, what are you saying? I shouldn’t give up, right?”

Repeating from earlier, Joui’s mind is dull from fatigue. Normally, he would have realized something was off about Koharu’s words, but at this time he was adjusting those words in his mind to make them consistent with his situation.

That is, ‘I think you should give up (on winning against Third High’s Juumonji)’, ‘I shouldn’t give up (on making up for my loss), right?’, that’s how he connected them in his head.

“I don’t think you’re bad-looking by any means, but... honestly, she’s way out of your league.”

However, when it becomes this mismatched, anyone would naturally realize they’re not on the same wavelength.

“...Koharu, what are you talking about?”

“You don’t have to play dumb now. You confessed to Alisa-san, didn’t you?”

Koharu had a dead serious look, anxious even.

“Huuuh!?”

That made Joui excessively surprised and agitated.

“Idi-... No-... H-How did you reach that misunderstanding!?”

Joui shouted with his voice cracking.

“What?” “What’s going on?”, looks began pouring on them from both the Mountaineering Club and the Magic Arts Club.

Joui had lost his composure and, to avoid the eyes concentrated on them, he reflexively grabbed Koharu’s hand and pulled her off the path, into the woods.

Wrapped up in his confusion, Joui did not see the future that was easily predictable had he given it a little thought: his actions will lead to even more misunderstandings.

Joui stopped and let go of Koharu’s hand. It hadn’t been that long — it was a rather short time, but they walked deep enough that neither could see the road they came from.

“Joey, what’s with you, all of a sudden?”

Koharu said, though she wasn’t wary at all. She would deny it, but, of course, this is due to the sense of distance that comes with what should be called ‘childhood friends’.

“I’m telling you, you got it wrong.”

Koharu tilted her head. Her expression was saying ‘Wrong about what?’.

“Look! I didn’t confess to Juumonji-san!”

“...So in the end, you left without even being able to confess?”

She said that with a voice of complete shock. Large transparent letters spelling ‘Loser’ were written on her face.

“I told you already, that’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t go to her to confess!”

Joui looked like he was about to start stomping the ground in frustration at any moment.

But Koharu’s attitude still did not change.

“Huh, but Joey, you like Alisa-san, don’t you?”

“Wha...”

Joui was at a loss for words at the conclusion she expressed in the form of a question.

“...No comment.”

After no less than 10 seconds, Joui somehow managed to reboot. But the answer he wrung out was no different from an affirmation to Koharu’s statement.

He must have realized that right away.

“I was asking her to tell me about Third High’s Juumonji Tatsuki.”

Joui continued, speaking rapidly.

“Aah... For next year’s Nine Schools Competition?”

Along with a nod, Koharu made a comment that seemed to indicate she more or less understood. But, in truth, it didn’t look like she was convinced.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the afternoon of the second day, the training menu for Mountaineering Club was trail running, and for the Magic Arts Club was underwater training.

Trail running is medium to long distance running over mountains, forests, moors, or deserts. In Competitive trail running you run offroad while carrying a small backpack on your back, but First High’s Mountaineering Club is running with a frame sack just like yesterday’s filled with things like water, first aid kits, and carriable food. That weight is enough for a day of mountain climbing, but sandbags were added for those with a surplus of strength.

The Magic Arts Club’s underwater training is the martial arts version of aqua aerobics. This form of kata training is performed while submerged in water up to the waist or up to the chest. Their clothes are a swimsuit and water shoes to prevent injuries on their feet. This training is popular among the female club members.

The reason it has an unfavorable reception among the male members is because the boys and girls are split into different locations. The girls are slightly downstream from the waterfall basin they used for climbing training in the morning. The boys are a little further than that, where the current is fast (rapids). The water in the rapids the boys are using only reaches up to the upper leg. This increases the risk of falling even more. As a result, the boys had to use not just swimsuits but also knee pads and elbow pads.

And when it comes to Alisa’s group...

Right next to the waterfall basin, where the water flows gently, it was Hiyori’s dearly wished for water playing time.

When everyone in Alisa’s group came to the waterfall basin in the morning, they wore wrap one-pieces of different colors. They took those off at a rocky area where the waterfall’s splashes don’t reach. The four of them had been wearing swimsuits underneath the wrap one-pieces.

Three people three ways[3], or in this case, four people four ways. All overflowing with youthful charm, but the one among them who stood out the most was, of course, Alisa.

A middle cut one-piece. It’s a simple competition-type swimsuit but when she wears it its design emphasizes her slim and feminine proportions. The pattern is plain and simple, a combination of blue close to black and light blue, with a red line accentuating it, but when Alisa wears it, it doesn’t feel plain, rather it gives an intense impression, refined and urban.

“Umm... Are you not going to swim?”

Alisa’s embarrassed voice suddenly brought Hiyori and Koharu back to their senses.

“I-indeed.” “R-right.”

Similarly flustered, Hiyori and Koharu jumped into the river.

And right afterwards they screamed due to the freezing water.

Mei shrugged her shoulders and shook her head left and right, murmuring “What are you girls doing...” with an exasperated tone.

“— It’s dangerous to get into the water so suddenly!”

And then, a little too late, she gave them a warning.

The waterfall basin is quite deep, and even immediately downstream where the four of them are playing, the water level in the middle is such that it reaches Koharu’s neck, who is the shortest one among them. The girls swam, dove, flapped their feet about on the shore, each playing on the water as they pleased.

After swimming for a while, Alisa floated facing upwards, relaxed her whole body and let herself drift around the surface of the water. It appears there is a small pond close to the waterfall basin, but the water doesn’t stop there. Without fighting it, Alisa was slowly floating downstream.

When the current became a little faster, she paddled the water with her hands and put her water-shoe-wearing feet on the riverbed. The water still reaches her chest. The pressure of the current was stronger than she had thought. Alisa thought that it might be difficult to walk back to the area she was in before from inside the river, so she headed to the shore.

But when she took one step forward, something caught her foot.

Alisa screamed and then submerged.

But she stood back up right away and put her head out of the water.

The surface of the water bulged up next to her and the head of a black-haired girl appeared.

Alisa splashed water on that face as hard as she could.

“Wahpff! Asha, so mean!”

Marika turned her face away and complained.

Alisa splashed even more water on Marika.

“You’re the mean one, Mina! That really scared me!”

“Wahpff! Wait! I-I give up!”

Water must have got into her trachea. Marika turned her back on Alisa and coughed.

Alisa finally stopped splashing water on her.

“...I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d get that angry.”

Marika stopped coughing and apologized to Alisa.

“Of course I’m angry. That was outright evil for a prank. That kind of thing is dangerous.”

“I’m really sorry!”

Understanding that Alisa really was angry, Marika brought her face right to the surface of the water and gave an earnest apology.

“Though, while you said you were scared, you only looked a little confused.”

Marika raised her face and, with a sense of surprise, asked that.

“That’s not true. For a second there I was about to panic.”

As she walked to the shore, Alisa replied with a voice of someone who hadn’t yet gotten over her bad mood.

But they have had a long relationship. Marika could tell Alisa was not really angry anymore.

“Just for a second?”

Marika hit Alisa with the question, without holding back.

“I understood right away that it was Mina’s doing.”

“Eh, really?... Wait, do you think I’m the only person who would do that kind of prank?”

“Yes.”

Marika nervously asked, to which Alisa nodded with a smile.

Marika became depressed enough that you could tell at a glance.

“Ahaha, I’m joking. I could tell by the feel of your hands.”

“...Really?”

“Yeah. Something like a signal coming from the ankle you grabbed told me ‘Ah, this is Mina’.”

“I see...”

Marika patted her chest, feeling relieved. She didn’t care what ‘something like a signal’ truly meant.

“By the way, shouldn’t you be training with the Magic Arts Club? Won’t they get mad you slipped out?”

Alisa asked as she sat down on a large boulder next to the shore.

“I’m not slipping away without asking. We’re on break right now.”

There was no guilt in Marika’s voice or face. From her behavior, she didn’t appear to be lying.

“Break? For this long?”

The Magic Arts Club is practicing about one hundred meters downstream from where they are.

The world records for long distance swimming do roughly one hundred meters per minute. The record in pools in good conditions is one minute. If you swim against the current up the river, you will not be able to do that much. Moreover, Marika managed to get close to Alisa without her noticing it. It would not be strange if a hundred meters took her 5 minutes or more.

“We have 15 minutes of break. There should be at least 10 minutes left.”

“Mina, were you always able to swim that fast...?”

“No. I walked up the river until I got close, but you didn’t notice at all. It’s not weird of me to want to play a little prank, right?”

“No, it’s weird.”

Alisa glared at Marika with the so-called ‘scornful eyes’.

But a different thing came to her mind right away. This is not a secluded region people don’t enter. Especially since this is the summer season. As far as Koharu looked into it, only First High’s Mountaineering Club and Magic Arts Club were lodging nearby at present, but it wouldn’t be strange at all if someone else were to pass by.

Without knowing if she was seen, Marika walked dozens of meters in her swimsuit. Does she have no sense of danger?

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

Alisa, who was still sitting, realized she was staring intently at Marika, who was standing, and averted her eyes, responding with “It’s nothing”.

“Asha, you’re weird.”

Marika said and then sat down next to Alisa.

Alisa’s arm touched the side of Marika that wasn’t covered by the swimsuit.

Marika’s swimsuit has a separate top and bottom, but it doesn’t expose that much. The color is also not white, but a sporty taupe. At a quick glance, it gives an impression similar to a girl’s track and field uniform. She may feel a little less uncomfortable walking around than Alisa who is wearing a one-piece swimsuit.

A snicker suddenly escaped Alisa’s mouth. ‘What in the world and I thinking’, she thought her own thoughts were weird.

“It’s nothing.”

Alisa once again gave the same answer to Marika, who was by her side looking quizzically at her.

Two beautiful girls were sitting close to each other, getting along well on a riverside boulder. Alisa’s and Marika’s close relationship seemed to go beyond the realm of best friends.

“Koharu, what are you looking at?”

“Hyah!”

Koharu, who was vacantly gazing at Alisa and Marika while standing in the middle of the river, squeaked when she was abruptly called out from behind.

“Mei-san... Please don’t scare me like that.”

Koharu turned around and protested with teary eyes.

But Mei didn’t pay attention to that complaint and followed Koharu’s line of sight. “Aah, Marika and Alisa?”, she understood by herself.

“Those two really get along...”

And she let out a voice mixed with both amazement and admiration.

“They’re really close to each other, aren’t they?”

Koharu interjected immediately, as if to say Mei had hit the nail in the head.

“I think there’s many girls with that kind of distance from each other, but...”

But Mei seemed to have a slightly different opinion.

“It’s the mood around them. They look more like lovers than friends, right?”

But still, her conclusion was the same as Koharu’s.

“Just as I thought, it is that kind of relationship, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. Even if it is, I don’t particularly mind. Are you against that kind of thing, Koharu?”

With ambiguous wording, Mei asked if Koharu was against homosexuality.

“I’m not against it! In fact, it’s my favorite!”

“... Your... favorite?”

“Ah, no, I misspoke. I’d welcome it.”

“Are you sure you misspoke...?”

Koharu subtly averted her eyes from the look of suspicion aimed at her.

“...Well, whatever.”

But Mei didn’t question Koharu any further.

“More importantly, why were you thinking of such a thing now?”

This had been weighing on her mind more.

“Eh, no, no reason.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Koharu gave a noncommittal response, but Mei wasn’t buying it.

“Koharu. You were talking to Kagari-kun earlier, right? This is related to that, am I right?”

An ‘Eh’ showed on Koharu’s face. It was an expression more of surprise than astonishment.

But as one looks at others, others also look at them. ‘I alone cannot be seen’, ‘I do not stand out’, those thoughts are preferential treatment towards oneself. Humility and arrogance are two sides of the same coin.

“What were you talking about with Kagari-kun? Is it related to those two?”

Being showered with questions by Mei, Koharu snapped out of her inability to think.

“Y-Yeah. Umm, it was about whether Joey confessed to Alisa-san...”

But her ability to think did not completely recover. Because of that, she returned an honest answer when she would have usually dodged the question.

“So that’s why you were looking at Alisa.”

“Koharu, you really are worried about Kagari-kun.”

A voice interrupted and continued Mei’s remark, to which Koharu shrieked “Hiih” and jumped up inside the river.

Hiyori, who had been swimming alone, was standing right behind her before she noticed.

“T-That scared me... Hiyori-san, please stop creeping up on me from behind.”

Not long ago, Koharu became teary-eyed in a similar situation where she was surprised by Mei.

“Creeping? You’ll give me a bad reputation. I was just swimming normally.”

Though Hiyori seemed upset with Koharu’s complaint.

“Koharu, weren’t you just preoccupied with Alisa? You were worried she would steal Kagari-kun from you?”

“T-That’s not it at all!”

Koharu rushedly denied Hiyori’s claim. Her voice was cracking.

“You don’t have to get embarrassed at this point.”

“What do you mean ‘at this point’!? Joey is just an acquaintance from long ago!”

“Love blooming between childhood friends, it’s a common tale, you know.”

Hiyori nodded with a know-it-all look. She didn’t hear Koharu’s words, nor did she hear Mei retort “I haven’t seen that anywhere other than fiction, though...”.

“Joey and I have known each other for a long time, but we’re not childhood friends! Childhood friends are something, like, more bittersweet!”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you were to get more bittersweet from now on?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!”

Hiyori stuck with her theory of ‘feelings of love developed towards her childhood friend’ theory to the end and Koharu desperately denied it. Mei stood by and watched the two in amazement. Both the suspicion of ‘Joui confessed to Alisa’ and the suspicion of ‘Alisa and Marika have a relationship deeper than best friends’ were completely forgotten without being settled.