As Long as It's a Japanese School Drama, the Rooftop Is Destined to Be an Important Setting (Please Support the New Book)

The rooftop.

As the morning bell rang, Shinji, his hands in his pockets, let out a soft sigh and looked helplessly at Rin, who stood beside him with her hands on her hips, saying nothing as she gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Hey, morning homeroom has already started. How long are you planning to keep glaring at me?"

"Tch!" Rin clicked her tongue, folded her arms, and turned her face away.

"Well, since we're already late, let's skip a class for once. I was dragged into this anyway, so it has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Watching Shinji sit down on the stone steps with an exceptionally punchable expression, Rin's anger, which had only just been suppressed, flared right back up.

"How does someone with an attendance rate below seventy percent even say something like that?"

Seeing Rin clench her fists, the corners of her eyes twitching, Shinji elegantly crossed one leg over the other and replied with a chuckle, "I heard the Tohsaka family motto is to remain elegant at all times, but I really can't see even a trace of that in you."

"No one could stay elegant when facing someone as infuriating as you!"

"Pfft!" Shinji once again failed to hold back his laughter. "Hahaha... Tohsaka, you have an unexpectedly cute side too."

"C-Cute...!" Rin blushed and raised her hands before her chest defensively as she stammered, "You're planning to tease me again, aren't you? Bring it on, Shinji Matou!"

Seeing Rin like this, Shinji lost interest in continuing to tease her. He lowered his head and sighed. "Seriously, can we get to the point already? You didn't call me up to a place like this just so I could laugh at you, did you?"

"So you were teasing me after all?!"

After pursing his lips and remaining expressionless in silence for quite some time, Shinji finally muttered, "Are you really an idiot?"

"Anyone who calls someone else an idiot is the real idiot! You moron!"

"Are you a child?" Shinji looked utterly speechless. Then, with a weary expression, he waved a hand. "Anyway, hurry up and tell me what important business you have, head of the Tohsaka Residence."

Rin sighed softly, put one hand on her hip, and turned to look into the distance. "There's no important business, disgraced son of the Matou Family."

That answer surprised Shinji somewhat.

Seeing the unexpected look on his face, Rin turned away with a huff. "Why do you look so surprised? Wasn't that the answer you expected?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Shinji shrugged. "It wasn't the answer I expected from a mage, but as an older sister, it's certainly a passing answer."

Rin understood what Shinji meant. Simply put, as the head of the Tohsaka Residence, she had the right to take Sakura back from the Matou Family, which had declared its complete withdrawal from the world of Magecraft—the Sakura who had been adopted out and possessed magical aptitude.

If their father were still alive, he might have done exactly that. After all, it was the Matou Family that had breached the agreement first.

He might even have seized all of the Matou Family's magical knowledge and turned Sakura Matou into a branch family of the Tohsaka Residence.

"From a mage's perspective, perhaps that would be the most reasonable thing to do," Rin continued. "But that child doesn't seem to want to continue down the path of a mage. Otherwise, if Sakura had even the slightest objection, there's no way you could have ended the Matou Family's history as mages so smoothly."

That was true. The Matou Family was not just Shinji and Sakura. There were also spiritual lands scattered across the country, as well as an enormous number of collaborators and stakeholders.

As long as they existed, Shinji could not simply make the Matou Family withdraw entirely from the world of Magecraft through his own efforts.

With Zouken gone, those people would absolutely find a way to push Sakura into the position of family head and suppress Shinji.

Unless... Sakura herself expressed her willingness to relinquish the position of family head.

Of course, Shinji was not worried about such a thing. They were all third-rate mages; even the mages secretly hired by the company could deal with them easily.

Large corporations secretly hiring a few mages was a common occurrence in this world, practically an unspoken rule.

As for the reason, those who knew, knew.

Over the past two years, as the company had grown larger, more and more low-level mages hired by competitors had infiltrated it to steal confidential documents.

Left with no other choice, Shinji had begun secretly hiring a batch of low-level mages for the company.

On the surface, the Matou Family had cleanly severed ties with Magecraft, but beneath the surface, the connection still lingered. It could not be helped.

"By the way, what are you planning to do with the Matou Family's spiritual lands?" Rin asked.

"I don't know. If it comes to it, I'll just give them away. With no mages left in the Matou Family, managing them is already impossible."

"You really are generous."

"Want them?"

"What scheme are you up to now?" Rin assumed a guarded stance again.

"None." Shinji sighed softly. "Those things might still have some value to mages, but for ordinary people like us, they're basically useless. Rather than giving them to strangers, I might as well give them to a mage I know."

"You really are a disgraced son through and through. You can throw away the Matou Family's centuries of accumulated legacy without the slightest attachment."

"Maybe." Shinji looked entirely unconcerned. "But if you ask me, that is the true responsibility of an unworthy descendant of Makiri. The two of us are fundamentally different. For you, inheriting and carrying on the Tohsaka Residence is your responsibility and duty. But for me, ending it—ending the Matou Family's history of Magecraft—is my responsibility and duty. That's why I don't feel the slightest reluctance."

"That's surprising. I never expected you to say something like that."

Shinji glanced at Rin and casually continued, "It's a very simple principle—being an ordinary person is far happier than being a mage."

Rin smiled. "Then it looks like I don't need to worry about Sakura anymore, with such a reliable ordinary older brother around."

Shinji frowned. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No, no, I don't mean it that way at all. It's more of a compliment."

"Tch!" Shinji curled his lips in obvious disdain.

"Anyway, Sakura will be in your care from now on, Shinji Matou."

"You're really cold. Sakura only just made up her mind to get closer to you. What do you mean by saying something like that? Are you trying to keep her at arm's length?"

"You know the mage's principle of concealing mystery, don't you? You two have already decided to become ordinary people..."

Shinji interrupted Rin. "But before that, you're biological sisters, aren't you? Can't you cast aside the identities of mage and ordinary person and interact only as sisters?"

Rin froze. "You..."

"Honestly, your brain works even worse than I imagined."

Shinji sighed, then slowly rose to his feet.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. And when Sakura takes the initiative to get close to you, don't keep trying to push her away and betray her feelings. She's a very sensitive child, especially when it comes to you..."