Dinner

Considering what might happen next, Aoko adjusted her spell list for the day slightly.

Aoko's innate Intelligence was currently 18, a figure she had estimated based on the knowledge gathered from fragments of the Weave. In other words, after some simple calculations, her Intelligence modifier plus her class level equaled the number of spells she could prepare: ((19-10)/2+5=9).

Cantrips did not need to be prepared in advance. For 1st-level spells, she had prepared Mage Armor, Shield, Magic Missile, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, and Longstrider. For 2nd-level spells, she had prepared Misty Step, Cloud of Daggers, and See Invisibility.

For 3rd-level spells, she had prepared only one casting of Hold Person.

Nine spells in total.

Aoko's spellbook could also store scrolls. Some of its pages had temporarily been turned into scrolls through Imaginary Number Magecraft. Whenever she had spare spell slots, Aoko copied spells onto those pages and stored them away for emergencies.

That said, the paper and ink needed to make scrolls were expensive in this world. Although Aoko's family was quite wealthy, her parents and grandfather kept a strict hold on her finances. Aside from necessary expenses, it was difficult for her to spend much money on large quantities of precious materials.

At present, Aoko had accumulated two Haste scrolls, three Fireball scrolls, and one Hold Person scroll. Since making scrolls was so costly, she could only prioritize copying the higher-level spells she had mastered; practicality had to come second.

Half an hour later, Aoko put away her spellbook, stretched, and rose from her chair.

"Touko!"

A crisp, cheerful voice roused Touko Aozaki from her thoughts as she sat holding a book. She took off her glasses, rubbed her eyes, then put them back on and saw her younger sister coming down the stairs.

"Aren't you going to class?" Touko asked in a somewhat cool tone. "You're about to be late, aren't you?"

"You're my sister, and you don't even know that today is your own little sister's middle school graduation day?" Aoko said, pretending to be angry as she furrowed her brows. "That's far too irresponsible. Your punishment is treating me to dinner! I want Italian food at that new place in the shopping district!"

"Putting aside the fact that Reien and your middle school aren't even in the same city—though I only graduated from Reien not too long ago," Touko said, completely unmoved by Aoko's act as she looked at her strangely, "I remember the food at that restaurant not even being as good as your own cooking."

"I don't care!" Aoko jogged over and sat beside Touko, wrapping one arm around her shoulders while reaching with the other to stroke Touko's chin. "How can cooking for myself compare to you treating me? Do you even understand?!"

"Stop fooling around." Without changing her expression, Touko pushed away Aoko's restless little hand. "You should be going to school. If the student representative is late, that won't do anyone any good, will it?"

"Ahh~" Aoko sighed theatrically. She removed her hand from her sister, then stood back up. "Remember to make a reservation for tonight, okay? That place is really popular!"

Touko said nothing more. She merely waved Aoko away with an impatient expression, signaling for her to hurry up and leave.

The graduation representative's speech went flawlessly, and Aoko's dazzling figure was forever etched into the history of Asagami Private Girls' Academy.

Aoko skillfully handled all the girls who wanted to take a picture with her before graduation, as well as those who wanted to try their luck one last time by slipping her a love letter.

Throughout her three years of middle school, Aoko had found enormous piles of love letters in her shoe locker every day. She had long since developed a standard procedure for dealing with such things. The enthusiasm of the cute underclassmen and beautiful upperclassmen never waned, and she did not want to hurt the girls' feelings, so she had no choice but to use magecraft to soothe their restless hearts.

Of course, there was no need to misunderstand. Aoko had not exposed the mystery of magecraft before ordinary people. She had merely obtained memory-manipulating magecraft through her sister's friend—Alice Kuonji—and made minor adjustments to the girls' memories, leaving them with nothing more than a hazy, ambiguous dream.

After dealing with everything, Aoko let out a faint, tired sigh. A girls' school alone was already this frightening. What was she supposed to do in the future at Misaki Private High School, an ordinary coeducational school?

After the graduation ceremony ended, Aoko took her diploma and found the family driver who had come to pick her up. After roughly estimating the time, she gave the driver a few instructions, then took a short nap in the car.

At around five in the afternoon, Aoko's car arrived before the Italian restaurant in the shopping district. After getting out, she looked around briefly and headed toward the waiter standing at the entrance.

"Do you have a reservation?" the waiter asked with a professional smile.

"I'm meeting Ms. Touko Aozaki," Aoko replied with a smile.

"Please wait a moment." The waiter checked the information briefly, then looked up at her. "Ms. Touko Aozaki has already arrived. This way, please."

Led by the waiter, Aoko arrived at a corner of the upscale restaurant. Touko Aozaki sat at the table in an elegant dress with sapphire earrings, gazing coldly out the window as though lost in thought.

This restaurant was quite expensive, and most of its diners were wealthy people dressed very formally. However, Asagami Private Girls' Academy was also a private school for the elite, and its uniforms resembled formal dresses, so Aoko's attire did not look out of place here.

"Have you been here long?" Aoko asked after sitting down. "That outfit is really pretty. Did you dress up specially for me?"

"In your dreams." Touko rolled her eyes. "I have plenty of clothes like this. I just picked one at random."

Aoko smiled without speaking and picked up the menu to read it carefully. Though she herself was quite skilled at Italian cuisine, different chefs always produced slightly different flavors. Aoko was interested in those subtle differences, so whenever she encountered an excellent restaurant, she could not resist trying it.

The meal was enjoyable. While savoring the food, the sisters chatted about many amusing things from their lives and studies. Aoko even spoke with Touko about the difficulties she had encountered while learning magecraft. Naturally, ordinary people could not be allowed to overhear such topics, so Touko had prepared soundproofing magecraft in advance.

As the meal neared its end and night had fully fallen, Touko suddenly froze.

"What is it?" Aoko asked as she enjoyed her dessert. "Did you forget to do something?"

Touko took an antique-looking pocket watch from the bag at her side. After opening it, she activated a small spell to inspect it.

"Grandfather wants us at his workshop," Touko said with a complicated expression. "It's probably about that matter."

That was right. Aoko had already spoken to Touko about the inheritance of the Fifth Magic, subtly warning her that the old man might change his mind at the last minute so she could prepare herself mentally.

As clever as Touko was, she easily understood what Aoko had meant. However, after so many years of studying magecraft together, the relationship between the sisters was no longer as awkward and unfamiliar as it had been in the original timeline.

Still, Touko was not the sort of person who would abandon her life's goal because of her feelings. Aoko understood that as well, because in a sense, she and Touko were very similar.

"Let's go." Touko signed the bill and gave the waiter a generous tip. "Don't keep the old man waiting."