I have searched 半ば meaning and translation, but I couldn't find an example that fit in with the sentence that I read on the light novel.
半ば南雲による煽りのようなものだったが、兄貴を追いかけてこの学校に来たはずの堀北が、これまで僅かな時間しか兄と接することが出来ていないのは事実だ。
From jisho.org, 半ば: 1. middle; half; semi; halfway; partly
Then I found an additional info from weblio.jp that might be fit in with the above sentence.
- ある状態に半分ほどなっているさま。 2. かなりな程度。ほとんど。
So, can I translate the sentence as follow:
"It was almost like a provocation by Nagumo, but in reality Horikita who should have come to this school to follow her brother, had only been able to get in touch with her brother for a short time so far."
Thank you for your kind guidance.