Tohno Shinkyu's Decision

"So, that's the reason you suddenly ran off and adopted two little girls?" Touko huffed, glaring at Aoko, who stood beside two timid, red-haired little girls.

"Kohaku and Hisui are very talented children," Aoko said, stroking their soft hair. "I'd be very sad if they couldn't join the Aozaki family."

"Do you even have the time to educate them both?" Touko hit the nail on the head with her question. "Preparing for Todai, researching your own magecraft, and all sorts of other random affairs – the head of the family has such abundant free time, doesn't she~"

Aoko paid no mind to Touko's sarcastic jab. Instead, she smiled and gestured for the Miyajyo sisters to sit on the sofa first.

"Isn't that what I have you for? My dear Touko?" Aoko teased. "As a Grand Magus of the Clock Tower, you couldn't possibly teach two apprentices properly, could you?"

"Hah?" Touko pouted in displeasure. "Why should I teach these brats? That's not part of our contract!"

The sisters, Kohaku and Hisui, nervously huddled together. This scowling little girl, who looked about their age, seemed to be Aoko's sister. Would they be bullied here from now on?

"Of course, you have to teach them," Aoko said with a sweet smile, delivering a ruthless ultimatum. "Otherwise, I won't cook for you anymore."

"Gulp..." Little Touko was completely outmatched by the Archmage Aoko. Regardless of whether her magecraft power was still present or not, it was just too difficult for an underage child to survive in society...

"I'll help too," Alice said calmly, taking a sip of her black tea. "But only if they are willing to study diligently and obey my commands."

Compared to the scowling little girl Touko, Kohaku and Hisui felt a greater affinity for this black-haired girl dressed in gorgeous black clothing, who was as beautiful as the finest doll. Kohaku, in particular, felt this way.

"Tch, fine," Touko, who had to bow her head under another's roof, relented. However, she still laid down a condition. "I can teach them, but I'll conduct tests."

"No problem," Aoko replied. "Understanding the students' condition is an important part of a teacher's education~"

"What did you say?" Tohno Shinkyu exclaimed in surprise over the phone. "You're saying that pair of sisters was adopted? By whom?"

"It's the head of the Aozaki family, Aoko Aozaki, Mr. Tohno," the head of the Miyajyo family replied without a ripple in his voice. However, the sisters' mother, sitting beside him, could detect a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Didn't we agree before? Head of the Miyajyo family, have you considered the consequences of doing this?" Tohno Shinkyu's voice took on a menacing edge, his previous gentleness seeming like mere pretense.

"Haha, you jest, Lord Shinkyu," the head of the Miyajyo family said in a conciliatory tone. "Our Miyajyo family is now nothing more than a tiny, insignificant minnow. Neither the prosperous Tohno family nor 'that Aozaki family' is someone we can afford to offend. How about this: I can give you the contact information of the head of the Aozaki family, and you can talk to her yourself. What do you say?"

Upon hearing this, Tohno Shinkyu fell silent. He was in a difficult position, caught between a rock and a hard place.

The Miyajyo family had clearly bowed down and paid tribute to the Aozaki family. If he pressured the Miyajyo family further, it might lead them to contact the Aozaki family, and then they might come looking for him.

But if he called the head of the Aozaki family himself, he would be found by the Aozaki family with absolute certainty.

The Aozaki family was different from families like the Miyajyo and Tohno, who survived on the fringes of the mysterious world. They were colossal powers that could stir up trouble even in the deepest abysses of the mysterious world. Even if only the head of the family remained, they were not comparable to these scavengers.

However, Tohno Shinkyu couldn't hold on much longer. As the head of the Tohno family, possessing a strong "demonic" bloodline, he was increasingly unable to suppress his own reversion impulse.

He had gone to great lengths to find out that the last pair of twins in the Miyajyo family possessed extremely powerful sympathetic talents, capable of reinforcing his human personality against his reversion impulse through the exchange of bodily fluids. But unexpectedly, he had been intercepted at the final step...

Tohno Shinkyu gritted his teeth, his clenched fists drawing blood. Was the Tohno family going to be ruined in his generation?

His eldest son, Tohno Shiki, had an even more severe reversion impulse than he did. His daughter, Tohno Akiha, although seemingly fine for now, had a much denser bloodline than both him and his eldest son. She was destined to become an even more terrifying beast due to her reversion impulse in the future.

What should he do? It was impossible to go to the Aozaki family and snatch those twin girls back. Even if he gathered a large number of branch families from the Tohno family who shared similar bloodlines, they would still be no match for those people called "Magus"... and the Aozaki family wasn't just Magus.

Anxious, Tohno Shinkyu stood up and paced back and forth in his office, contemplating a way out for himself and the Tohno family.

The Miyajyo family... it seemed there was still one woman left, the mother of the two sisters?

Even though she had caused the decline of the Miyajyo family in her youth by breaking the family's taboos, it was highly likely that she still retained some bloodline abilities similar to the two sisters.

Perhaps...

With this thought, Tohno Shinkyu immediately picked up the phone again and began contacting the Tohno family's branch families.

"It's me," Tohno Shinkyu's voice was cold and ruthless. "How is your condition, Kouma?"

"...Is that so?" Tohno Shinkyu fell silent for a moment after hearing the reply from the head of the Hazama family. "Remember to bring everyone from your family. We're going to the Miyajyo family tonight."

"...What do you mean it's unnecessary?" Tohno Shinkyu said unhappily. "Things have reached a point where they can no longer be sustained. I can't hold on much longer. Tonight must be a success, and there can be no mistakes!"

"Alright, you all go prepare. Don't disappoint me." After issuing a series of orders, Tohno Shinkyu hung up the phone and then slumped back into his office chair, his eyes vacant.

"Quick! Call the head of the Aozaki family!" The head of the Miyajyo family immediately ordered the mother of the Miyajyo sisters. "That old scoundrel Tohno Shinkyu definitely has ill intentions. Since he couldn't get Kohaku and Hisui, he'll surely set his sights on the remaining members of our family!"

The mother of the sisters was startled by this and immediately thought of the information about the family that was mixed with "demons" in the family records...

She shivered and immediately picked up the phone to dial the number Aoko Aozaki had left.

"Wait!" The head of the Miyajyo family suddenly said, as if he had just thought of something. "Contact the Nanaya family first. Say... say that I have a business deal that requires Mr. Nanaya Kouri's assistance."

"We'll give half of the money we received from the head of the Aozaki family today to Nanaya Kouri!" The head of the Miyajyo family's expression was full of anguish, as if he had made a difficult decision that pained him greatly.