Grandfather's Arrival / Inheriting the Magic Crest

But as a self-disciplined doll, she probably shouldn't be judged by human standards, right?

"Doll. Doesn't the word have 'human' in it?"

Aozaki Aoko smiled slyly and said, "Besides, if I didn't tell anyone, who would know that you were a doll, Yaya? No matter how you look at it, you're a perfectly normal human."

"...Waaah~"

Yaya seemed to have been drained of all her strength. After a while, she appeared to remember something and said, "But, Touko-sama, didn't she also marry an Android who had only just been born?"

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

Aozaki Aoko's entire body stiffened. Then, like a rusty machine, she turned her head with a series of creaks, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Yaya, did you just say Touko-san married an Android?!"

"...Huh? Did Yaya say that?"

Yaya blinked, then put on an adorable expression. She looked incredibly cute; if it had been an ordinary person, they probably would have been won over by her cuteness and let the matter slide.

But Aozaki Aoko was no ordinary person.

"You absolutely said it!"

For the first time in ages, Aozaki Aoko's gaze carried an oppressive force. "You said, 'But, Touko-sama, didn't she also marry an Android who had only just been born?' That's exactly what you said!"

"...Yaya doesn't remember saying that."

Under that intimidating gaze, Yaya released Aozaki Aoko from her embrace and turned her head toward the television, clearly intending to avoid the subject.

"..."

However, Aozaki Aoko's oppressive stare grew sharper and sharper, like a blade being continuously honed, its edge becoming increasingly keen.

"...Waaah."

After holding out for a while, Yaya put on a pitiful expression and wailed, "Aoko, can you forget what Yaya just said?"

"Tell me!"

Aozaki Aoko expressed her attitude in a single word.

"All right, I wasn't planning to tell you yet, Aoko~"

Yaya wore an expression of surrender. "You've seen the photos Touko-sama sent back, right? That silver-haired lady with the long hair, the gentle smile, and the elegant bearing? She's actually the wife Touko-sama chose."

"Huh... Wasn't it supposed to be a man?"

Aozaki Aoko blinked, looking somewhat incredulous.

It seemed this was the first time she had learned that her elder sister's choice in partners deviated somewhat from common sense. She also began to understand why her sister had sent her a female Android.

"Of course not. Mrs. Irisviel is an elegant and gentle woman."

Yaya raised her head and said it with complete confidence, looking slightly proud.

She had once met Irisviel at Einzbern Castle. That elegant figure walking through the snow remained vivid in her memory even now, without fading in the slightest.

The woman possessed the noble bearing of an aristocratic lady along with the innocence of a young girl. Yaya couldn't help sighing inwardly. Touko-sama really knows what she's doing.

"---"

Aozaki Aoko felt as if her brain had crashed. She fell briefly into a speechless state as all kinds of complicated thoughts uncontrollably surfaced in her mind.

And just then—

As if to prove her previous statement and demonstrate that she could marry Aoko, Yaya placed her fair hand against her chest and said matter-of-factly, "So, since Touko-sama can marry Mrs. Irisviel, there's absolutely no problem with you marrying me, Aoko."

"...Even if I were going to marry someone of the same sex!"

Aozaki Aoko instinctively turned her head and replied without thinking, "I'd still choose Touko-san. There's no way I'd marry a lewd doll like you."

Chapter Eighty: The Grandfather's Arrival

"...Oh, Yaya understands now~"

A trace of conflict appeared on Yaya's adorable cheeks. After thinking for a while, she put on a reluctant expression. "If it's Touko-sama, Yaya is willing to share the right to marry Aoko. I'll be Aoko's wife, and Aoko can be Touko-sama's wife."

As soon as she finished speaking, the atmosphere became strange and oppressive.

Aozaki Aoko was dumbfounded, stunned by Yaya's bizarre train of thought. She remained silent for roughly half a minute before finally recovering her composure and saying helplessly, "As expected, Yaya, you really should let Touko-san give you a good fixing."

As she spoke, she focused her attention on the television and quickly let the matter pass, showing no intention of arguing or beating Yaya up over it.

The reason was actually quite simple. She herself hadn't taken those statements too seriously, and she had already grown accustomed to Yaya making shocking remarks from time to time.

If she had to be startled like that every day, she might have already lost twenty years of her life.

"Yaya is undergoing healthy development right now~"

Yaya smiled with complete confidence. Then she moved close to Aoko and, like a clingy cat, hugged her slender arm before settling down to watch the television.

"You've definitely developed crookedly, you lewd doll~"

The more Aozaki Aoko spoke, the more ferocious her expression became. Yaya, however, calmly accepted the verbal assault and explained in a sweet voice, "Whether Yaya is developing healthily isn't determined by whether her personality is perfect. It depends on her level of completion, whether she has become more human, and whether she conforms to the human understanding of what a human is."

"If you put it that way, Yaya, you've probably become too humanized~"

Aozaki Aoko half-reclined on the sofa, propping her cheek up with one fair hand. As she recalled Yaya's conduct, she felt that it was absolutely unforgettable—probably the kind of amusing memory one could still recall in old age.

Apparently, quite a few people had wanted to pursue her when they were at school. However, after those people had made a fuss for a while, they completely vanished without a trace.

Of course, this didn't involve killing them, filling them with concrete, and sinking them in a river.

Rather, Yaya had voluntarily taken on the role of a knight. In a single day, she had fought her way through the entire school, challenging everyone without distinction—the judo club, the basketball club, the kendo club, the track-and-field club, and even the delinquents lurking in the corners.

Then, within that one day, Yaya had knocked every single one of them to the ground.

Most of the people she beat up hadn't actually intended to pursue her. They had merely wanted to join in on the excitement.

Still, thanks to that, the intentions of nearly all her admirers had been nipped in the bud.

The flip side was that Yaya gained a great many admirers at school, to the absurd extent that they could even have formed a cheerleading club.

There was even a rumor that a table-tennis coach had begged Yaya with tears streaming down his face, saying that if they had Yaya, there was hope of defeating Chinese table tennis.

In short... Yaya was an extraordinarily unique person.

"Aoko... isn't that Touko-sama?"

Just then, Yaya suddenly cried out. Hearing that, Aozaki Aoko pulled her thoughts back and focused her attention on the television. She saw her own Touko-san being interviewed by reporters, stating that she was willing to accept this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine.

On the television, Aozaki Touko wore a white lab coat and rimless glasses. She looked intelligent and gentle as she answered the reporters' questions with a mild smile.

She looked like a kindhearted doctor, the sort of person who easily inspired affection.

"...As expected of Touko-san. Somehow, accomplishing something like this feels completely natural for her."

Seeing this scene, Aozaki Aoko sighed with emotion.

She accepted the news that her sister was going to receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine as a matter of course and showed little surprise. She had already anticipated this day long ago.

"It's only natural for Touko-sama to accomplish something like that~"

Yaya said this as if it were self-evident, then hurried over to the telephone and skillfully called the Aozaki Parents. She was probably planning to tell them the good news.

"Nobel... Is that the highest award in ordinary society?"

Just then, Aozaki Grandfather suddenly appeared inside the room, staring deeply at the television as it broadcast the report on Aozaki Touko.

Yaya also stopped dialing. Like a cat with its fur standing on end, she watched Aozaki Grandfather warily, instinctively moving to shield Aozaki Aoko behind her.

She knew this old man. He was Aoko and Touko-sama's grandfather, so logically, he shouldn't be an enemy.

However, the very existence of Aozaki Grandfather made Yaya feel deeply chilled. If she was someone advancing toward humanity, then Aozaki Grandfather was an existence that had turned its back on humanity.

Their ways of life were fundamentally different.

"..."

"..."

Chapter Eighty-One: Inheriting the Magic Crest

The Aozaki Household.

The silence was terrifying.

At some unknown point, the Magic User had arrived and was now watching the scene playing on the television. His eyes were deep and devoid of emotion, as if his humanity had been stripped away and discarded.

The impression he gave was less that of a human than of a part of some grander affair, like the turning of the seasons or the rising and setting of the stars.

"Your sister will soon receive every honor. As an ordinary person, she'll receive the Nobel Prize, and as a Magus, she'll receive the title of Grand. This is truly the ultimate expression of genius."

The Fifth Magic User seemed to be speaking to himself. "If I hadn't obtained the Fifth Magic, someone like your sister would probably have been the object of my admiration and jealousy. No matter how hard an untalented person like me worked for an entire lifetime, I would never have been able to reach the Root. In the end, I could only curse her from some dark corner, while being unable to suppress my admiration."

"But life really is strange. My luck seemed to have been blessed by heaven itself. When I was in despair, I encountered a hole leading into the Root. When I was troubled by having no heir, heaven gifted me two geniuses ideally suited to inheriting the Fifth Magic—Aozaki Touko, with her unparalleled talent."

At this point, the Fifth Magic User looked toward Aozaki Aoko.

"And Aozaki Aoko, the one most suited to inheriting the Fifth Magic."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aozaki Aoko's expression turned cold. She knew that her ominous premonition had come true. Her grandfather truly intended for her to inherit the Fifth Magic. His questions back then had already been a harbinger.

"Grandfather, what are you doing here?"

She lowered her eyes and asked in a cold voice.

In her heart, Aozaki Grandfather had always been a rather rigid, eccentric old man. She didn't really fear him. If she was unhappy, she saw nothing wrong with responding to him coldly.

"From today onward, you will inherit the Aozaki Household's Magic Crest."

Grandfather announced this in an indifferent tone.

"...What about my sister?"

Aoko asked simply.

"She has already agreed."

Grandfather replied just as simply.

After that brief exchange, the atmosphere once again fell into a deathly silence.

The sound of the interview drifted from the television. The clock on the wall ticked away. Outside, rain pattered softly, occasionally accompanied by the deafening rumble of thunder.

But Aozaki Aoko ignored all of it. She watched the images on the television. Touko-san was as confident and radiant as ever, shining like the sun.

Whether now or in childhood, her sister had always been brimming with confidence. Whenever Aoko looked at her, she somehow found courage welling up in her heart.

That was only natural, because she was her sister—the sister who was gentle and protective of her. No matter what happened, whenever Aoko encountered difficulties, her genius sister would never stand idly by.

As long as she remembered that, her heart would settle.

But if she inherited the Magic Crest, could the relationship built upon blood ties and familial affection, which had always seemed so natural, remain the same?

To a Magus, the Magic Crest carried a weight more important than life itself.

If it was necessary to obtain the right to inherit a Magic Crest, even blood siblings killing each other would be considered natural. Aoko hated that possibility from the bottom of her heart and wanted to avoid it.

She had once held the thought that she could simply enjoy an ordinary person's life and spend her days at ease, leaving all those troublesome magical matters to her genius sister.

Even now, her desire to come into contact with the world of Magi had only arisen because she had realized that if she remained in the ordinary world, she would never be able to draw close to her sister in the future.

That was why she had wanted to enter the world of Magi.

"...Aoko?"

Just then, Yaya called softly, her expression grave. She looked at Aozaki Aoko with concern, clearly worried about her current state. Yaya understood all too well what was about to happen—a major event that might cause everything to fall apart.

"..."

Aozaki Aoko didn't answer. She shook her head at Yaya, then got up, took an umbrella from the entryway, opened it, and left the Aozaki Household.

Seeing this, Grandfather also left the Aozaki Household by some unknown method.