Encounter on the Way Back / The Secretly Wealthy Touko?

She did not answer, only shook her head before turning and leaving.

Seeing this, the man did not ask any questions either. He simply followed behind the girl, choosing to fulfill his role as her guard. However, he committed their conversation to memory, intending to report it to the family once they returned.

The information in this conversation... The family head should be able to understand it, right?

Outside the Kuzuki Western Mansion.

Tohno Makihisa stared intently ahead with a gloomy expression, two conflicting wills surging within his heart. By then, Aozaki Touko had already left the house.

If he attacked the Kuzuki Western Mansion now, he might be able to take the Miko Futago inside.

But if he did that, once that woman returned, the entire Tohno Family would face annihilation once again. That was something he could not accept.

And yet, the Miko Futago were far too important to him.

That was why he now resembled an addict locked in a rehabilitation center, craving what lay inside the Kuzuki Western Mansion yet not daring to make a single move.

In the end, he let out a helpless sigh.

"...I'll think of another way."

With that, he turned and left.

He ultimately did not dare to take the Miko Futago from the mansion by force. In fact, if he had truly resolved to act, he would not have come alone.

Although he desperately desired the Miko Futago,

reason told him that this was something he must not do.

Because it would drag the Tohno Family into the abyss.

"What? So he didn't dare to make a move after all?"

After a while, Yaya emerged from a dark corner, planting her hands on her hips with an unhappy look on her face. Clearly, she regretted that Tohno Makihisa had not acted and caused her to miss her chance to show off.

One had to know... she had never fought since the day she was born.

She had been loaded with powerful combat capabilities, yet being unable to display them was truly regrettable.

If she could drive away these intruders now,

Master Touko would surely praise her properly.

Chapter 46: Encounter on the Way Back

The night deepened.

Aozaki Touko walked home alone. Just as she passed a corner, she happened to run into Tohno Makihisa on his way back.

The air suddenly solidified.

Tohno Makihisa stared in extreme astonishment at Aozaki Touko, who had appeared before him. He had never imagined that he would encounter her so coincidentally.

He had already considered the possibility of running into this girl on his way back. He had deliberately chosen a somewhat longer route precisely to avoid such a coincidence.

And yet, they had still met.

The girl looked at him with an inscrutable smile, as if she had long foreseen that he would appear here, as if she knew that he would go spy on the Kuzuki Western Mansion tonight.

Her face, devoid of killing intent, seemed to have foreseen that he would not dare to act.

"...Miss Touko, what a coincidence."

Suppressing his astonishment, Tohno Makihisa put on a warm smile. This time, however, he could no longer maintain the same flawless, consistently enthusiastic smile as before.

The chill constantly rising within him froze his body, making his movements seem somewhat awkward. This girl was simply an anomaly among anomalies. It felt as though she saw straight through him, even predicting his future actions.

For someone like him, being seen through was the most dangerous thing imaginable.

"...Perhaps this coincidence was caused by you yourself!"

Aozaki Touko smiled sweetly.

"I don't possess the ability to see the future."

As he said this, Tohno Makihisa stared at the beautiful girl, wanting to know whether she possessed some sort of precognitive ability—or whether she had discovered him spying on the Kuzuki Western Mansion and chased after him.

"Precognition isn't necessary. People are like falling iron balls. As long as you know their weight and calculate the surrounding conditions, it's easy to deduce their trajectory and final landing point."

Aozaki Touko took out a coin and flicked it high into the air. The coin flipped continuously overhead. A cold wind and snow swept past, altering its rotation.

"Take a guess. Heads or tails?"

The moment she finished speaking, Tohno Makihisa fixed his gaze on the spinning coin. Non-Human Blood granted him powerful penetrating vision, allowing him to quickly see the coin clearly and deduce which side would ultimately face upward when it landed.

"Heads!"

He said this with absolute certainty.

Then.

"It landed on its edge."

Aozaki Touko's confident voice rang out.

Then, as if the world itself were helping her, a powerful gust of wind and snow suddenly swept past. The coin tilted again before finally landing in the snow.

The coin stood upright.

"..."

Seeing this, Tohno Makihisa fell silent.

"This time, for the sake of Shiye, I'll pretend nothing happened."

Aozaki Touko bent down and picked up the upright coin. She gave him a teasing smile, then walked toward the Kuzuki Western Mansion without looking back.

The moment they passed shoulder to shoulder,

Tohno Makihisa instinctively stepped aside. His instincts urged him to stay as far away from this woman as possible, having already recognized the girl as a superior existence.

It was like how a sika deer in the animal kingdom avoided a tiger—a primal reaction when facing a higher-ranking existence.

"..."

He turned to watch the departing girl, completely extinguishing his desire to obtain the Miko Futago. An existence that was practically a god among humans—there was no way he could possibly oppose her, right?

Thinking this, he walked toward his family somewhat dejectedly.

"Master Touko, why didn't you kill him?"

On the way back, Yaya emerged from who knew where and came to Aozaki Touko's side. She pouted, looking somewhat dejected as she asked this.

"That's because Shiye hasn't grown up yet... I don't want to be stained with the blood of Shiye's father either. No matter how we explained it in the future, there would still be an invisible barrier between Shiye and me."

Aozaki Touko explained with a soft laugh.

It was not that she was softhearted. Without the Miko Futago, Tohno Makihisa would eventually be killed because of the Inversion Impulse. The person who acted might even be the future family head, Tohno Shiye.

So there was truly no need to kill him herself. Letting him fall into despair and die under the Inversion Impulse might actually be the more cruel option.

"So Master chose to intimidate him tonight?"

Yaya nodded slightly, looking enlightened.

"Mm... I merely took advantage of the situation and intimidated him a little."

Aozaki Touko did not deny it, smiling gently.

She had already deduced that Tohno Makihisa would come to spy on the Kuzuki Western Mansion before she left for Kanbuchi City. For someone who had unlocked the Third Stage Gene Lock and possessed inconceivable computational ability, she already had the ability to extrapolate the future.

That Tohno Makihisa would hesitate outside the Kuzuki Western Mansion for a while before ultimately giving up and leaving had already fallen within the scope of her deductions.

However, the human heart was complicated, and deductions could never be absolutely accurate.

If Tohno Makihisa's mind short-circuited and he insisted on attacking the Kuzuki Western Mansion to seize the girls,

then, if he accidentally damaged something belonging to the Azu Family, it was impossible to imagine how furious Azu would become. That was why she had specifically sent Yaya to protect the Kuzuki Western Mansion for a while,

to prevent Tohno Makihisa from losing his mind.

After all, Azu treasured the house her parents had left behind more than anything.

Yaya.jpg

Chapter 47: The Secretly Wealthy Touko?

The sky.

A private plane cut across the high altitude.

"..."

Inside the plane, Aozaki Touko sat on a sofa, gazing at the clouds drifting backward outside the window. Her eyes looked relaxed and carefree, as if she had finally set down a heavy burden.

She had now resolved the matter of inheriting the Fifth Magic and had also met Root Shiki, silently reaching an agreement with her. Her trip to Japan could be considered a complete success.

"Next, I just need to settle the Rune Runes, and then complete the Third Magic."

Saying this casually, she picked up the teacup on the table and intended to take a sip.

Then she discovered that it was already empty.

"Lady Touko, allow me to refill it for you."

Kohaku hurried over from the side, picked up the teapot, and poured Aozaki Touko another cup. Her movements were somewhat stiff, but it was clear that she had specifically trained in the manner of a maid.

But then.

"Kohaku, when did you learn maid skills?"

Aozaki Touko asked in surprise.

She had never specifically trained Kohaku or Hisui in any maid skills. She had originally planned to have Illyasviel teach them after they returned to Einzbern.

"...Kohaku taught herself during her spare time."

Kohaku lowered her head slightly, her voice somewhat bashful. "If there are any shortcomings, please forgive me, Miss Touko. Kohaku will work even harder in the future."

"...This is already amazing~"

Aozaki Touko shook her head with a smile, drained the tea in her cup, then handed it back to Kohaku. "Could the adorable Miss Kohaku trouble herself to refill it for me?"

"Yes."

Kohaku answered softly. She carefully poured Aozaki Touko another cup of black tea, then gracefully placed it back on the tea tray.

Perhaps because she was too young and her technique was still unpolished, her movements did not really give off a smooth or elegant feeling.

Instead, they seemed somewhat clumsy and adorable.

"Thank you, Miss Kohaku."

Aozaki Touko lifted the teacup and gave her a slight smile, her eyes filled with approval.

As if encouraged by this attitude, Kohaku's little face flushed slightly. She bowed and softly said her farewell before running to the other sofa, where she began reading a fairy tale book with her sister Hisui.

"...What a sensible girl."

With this sigh, Aozaki Touko turned her gaze toward the window.

She felt a deep sense of accomplishment over the effort she had spent searching for the Miko Futago and the seventy million yen she had paid. After all, she had saved two such well-behaved children, hadn't she?

On the other side, Kohaku and Hisui sat pressed together, sharing a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales and whispering to each other. They were not discussing how pitiful Snow White in the story was, but rather how Kohaku's performance earlier had been and how she should improve in the future.

They did not feel any resentment about being bought by Aozaki Touko, the big sister. Even after realizing that human trafficking was wrong, they still felt grateful toward this kind big sister.

It was the purest form of gratitude.

She had rescued them from hunger, taken them into a warm home, and ensured that they would no longer be bullied and beaten at random.

All of this was enough to make them grateful from the bottom of their hearts.

Moreover, though it was embarrassing to say, the smile this big sister showed them was as warm as a bonfire in winter.

That warmth... was as gentle as their mother.