Beo Luger

"Hey, Touko," the blond "boy" said, sitting atop a battered school desk. "When can we go find your little sister?"

"You've asked that question many times already." As Touko arranged her temporary workshop, she answered impatiently, "You're very strong, but don't get careless just because you're a phantasmal species. If we want to win, we have to make every preparation."

"You promised me, Touko," the blond "boy," Beo, continued. "You promised to find me the most interesting opponent, and our contract lasts until I defeat the wielder of the Fifth Magic."

"There are only five Magicians in the entire world." Touko paused in her work and looked into the distance beyond the window. "If I took you before her now, you'd most likely lose outright."

"Can I eat her?" Beo asked in a tone that mixed greed with innocence. "Does she taste good?"

"...No." Touko frowned. "You are not allowed to kill either Alice Kuonji or Aoko Aozaki."

"Ah—how boring." Beo lost some of his interest and jumped down from the desk. "Touko, I'm hungry."

"The meat is in that box over there." Touko pointed toward a corner of the classroom. "Go get it yourself."

After saying that, Touko ignored Beo and focused on adjusting the external Magic Crest she had "borrowed." It was the foundation that supported her Rune Magecraft against Aoko, and she had to carefully tune it to its optimal state.

Thinking of her younger sister Aoko, Touko could not help falling into conflict.

She was absolutely not a weak person. If anything, Touko was a rather typical mage. Her grandfather's last-minute decision to make Aoko the heir had enraged her, and she had once sworn to make that old man pay. Yet now that he truly had paid, Touko found herself conflicted once more.

To deal with Aoko, Touko had instinctively formed a plan. She found Beo, who had been hiding in the forests of Northern Europe.

This phantasmal beast possessed human intelligence and was far too powerful. Rather, no mage had any chance of defeating it; gender and age meant nothing to it.

If it had not been so empty, so bored that it could not even find meaning in life, it would never have contracted with Touko.

But when Touko truly returned to Misaki, she found herself somewhat at a loss.

If only that little sister had been colder.

If only she had been a little more hateful.

If... if the two sisters' surname had not been Aozaki. That was what Touko thought.

I won't be weak. Touko's gaze turned cold again. Take back what I want. Take back what I deserve. That is what mages are, and even Aoko is doing the same.

Alice Kuonji also had to be taken into consideration. Touko recalled her childhood friend. A witch without equal—without Beo's help, even Touko could not deal with her easily.

Alice Kuonji wandered through the forest.

Two little pigs that looked like some kind of toys followed at her side, though they were anything but small.

The wreckage of a destroyed doll lay on the ground. It had three pairs of limbs, while its head bore a long mane of black hair. Rather than trying to imitate any particular person, it seemed intended to provoke her.

The PLOY known as the Rose Hound was searching for traces. An enemy had infiltrated the territory.

The Aozaki family's leyline had been entrusted to Alice and Aoko to manage together. Alice was not someone who liked shirking responsibility, which was why she was here now.

"...The barrier stone at a leyline node has been destroyed." Alice murmured as she examined the hounds' findings. "Is some mage making an enemy of the Aozaki family?"

Alice Kuonji crouched down and picked up a shattered rune stone from the ground. A deep claw mark remained on it.

"Tweedle," Alice ordered. "It's time to go."

"Is that all?" "We haven't had enough fun yet!"

Before the twins could say anything else, Alice had already withdrawn the Feast of the Dead. The light around them grew slightly brighter, and the twins' little pigs vanished as well.

By the time she returned home, Aoko had dinner ready.

"How was it?" Aoko stood at the entrance hall. "Did things go smoothly?"

"Not well." Alice sighed. "I didn't catch the culprit, but a leyline node was indeed destroyed. I also encountered a strange doll at the scene."

Aoko naturally knew who had done it. If there had been a doll at the scene, every other possibility could be ruled out.

"Well, it's a small problem." Aoko did not seem too concerned. "Now that it's come to this, let's eat first?"

Alice nodded, took off her coat and hung it aside, then changed into indoor slippers and followed Aoko into the dining room.

Tonight's dinner was supposedly Japanese cuisine, but one look was enough to tell that Aoko had modified it. Neither Alice nor Aoko was particularly used to purely Japanese food.

"Who is the enemy?" Alice asked after placing a piece of tofu in her mouth and chewing it carefully. As expected, the food was delicious.

"I knew the moment you mentioned the doll." Aoko served herself a piece of grilled fish. "It has to be Touko. Making a doll look like that was probably her way of provoking me."

"...I never said the doll had your face." Alice was somewhat surprised that Aoko knew such details.

"Hah, Touko and I grew up together." Aoko smiled. "I know that woman's nasty side inside and out."

"Even though you've always treated her well?"

"Even though I've always treated her well." Aoko said, "The Aozaki family's Magic is still too important to her. Or rather, the mage called Touko Aozaki is nothing more than a slave to Magic."

"...I never knew Touko was that kind of person," Alice said. "I thought she would talk to you first."

"The Touko you remember was still the 'egg of a Magician,'" Aoko replied. "But now, once she has made up her mind, she will definitely come for me first, and I must defeat her fair and square."

"And," Aoko said after thinking for a moment, "she'll probably try to remove you from my side first, so be careful."

"...You don't actually think Touko can beat me, do you?" Alice was somewhat surprised. She had great confidence in her own magecraft system, and she believed Touko understood how strong she was against mages.

"It may not be Touko herself who can beat you." Aoko considered it. "But her familiar might."

"You must carry what I gave you at all times." Aoko stared seriously into Alice's eyes. "If you encounter Touko, use it immediately. I'll come at once. Don't try to tough it out."

In the original timeline, Touko had been a pure mage who had never received any ordinary familial affection.

Her personality was stubborn and twisted. Even though the current Touko had been changed somewhat by Aoko, her obsession with her goals remained deeply rooted.

"...Okay."

Feeling her housemate's concern, Alice Kuonji froze for a moment, then responded in an almost inaudible voice.