"I'm afraid I must disappoint you in this matter, Miss Magician." Lord Baruereta spoke to the Aozaki sisters with a deeply regretful expression.
"Oh?" Aoko said. "So you're saying you refuse to lift the Sealing Designation bounty on Touko's head?"
"No, you misunderstand me," Lord Baruereta continued. "I'm afraid that, as a newly appointed Magician, you do not fully understand the Clock Tower's internal workings. It seems my dear student never told you about this."
"Once the Sealing Designation resolution issued by the Department of Mystical Adjudication, the Carillon Observatory, has been passed, Lords like us have no means of interfering," Baruereta said unhurriedly. "The instant my application to nominate Touko for a Sealing Designation was accepted by the Department of Mystical Adjudication, the matter ceased to concern me."
"Then there's nothing to be done," Aoko said with a sigh, closing her eyes. "What a terrible shame..."
"Yes, it truly is—"
Lord Baruereta was cut off halfway through her agreeing words when Aoko raised a hand to stop her.
"While I do find it deeply regrettable that you cannot help Touko revoke the Sealing Designation bounty, I never said I wouldn't hold you accountable for your wrongdoing."
Here it came.
As a cunning, seasoned top-ranking Lord and politician of the Clock Tower, Inorai Baruereta Atroholm had known from the very first moment she learned Aoko's identity that this woman was no harmless sort.
Still, contrary to what she had previously inferred from her student's personality, the heir to the Fifth Magic had not broken with her sister after deciding the victor. That had truly caught her by surprise...
"And how does Miss Magician intend to hold this old woman accountable?" Lord Baruereta asked calmly, though mentally she had already tensed completely and entered a state where she could fight at