"If it's my responsibility, then I won't refuse. Even if I don't like it, since it's my responsibility, I'll fulfill it properly!"
"...Is that all?"
Aozaki Touko wore a gentle, intelligent smile, as if she had seen through Aoko's heart.
"..."
Aozaki Aoko was very familiar with that look. From childhood until now, whenever Touko saw through her secrets, she wore that same gentle, indulgent expression. It irritated Aoko somewhat, but she did not truly dislike it.
"Mm... I've also wondered whether inheriting the Fifth Magic was your expectation, Sis, so I didn't refuse. If you wanted to take back the Fifth Magic, I wouldn't have the power to resist anyway. Thinking about it that way, I actually feel relieved."
In the end, she once again revealed the secret she had been unwilling to speak of.
She had never intended to say such things aloud.
"So that's how it is?"
Aozaki Touko tilted her head and repeated herself. Her gentle, intelligent smile was like an invisible, tender blade, peeling away Aoko's defenses and seeing into the deeper parts of her heart.
"..."
Seeing this, Aozaki Aoko turned her head and puffed out her cheeks slightly. She hated people who disrupted her emotions and would even regard them as enemies. But if that person was Touko, she was completely helpless.
"I'm not satisfied. I don't want to be left too far behind by you, Sis, and I don't want to be a fledgling sheltered beneath your wings. I want to stand at the same height as you. If I had magic, I could do that!"
Once again, helplessly, she exposed another part of herself that she wanted to hide.
"So that's what you were thinking, Aoko~"
Aozaki Touko nodded slightly, looking as though she understood everything.
"...Then shouldn't I be the one asking what you think, Sis?"
Flames burned in Aoko's eyes. "Why did you give me the Magic Crest? Don't give me some perfunctory excuse about following your own path."
Even though she had only been involved in the world of magecraft for a short time, she knew that magic was a magus's ultimate pursuit. It was a miracle from beyond more important than life itself, the goal that countless magus families had pursued for generations.
She had given up the Fifth Magic because she had her own path. But the Fifth Magic itself embodied the ultimate pursuit of magi. Wasn't abandoning the Aozaki Household's Magic Crest simply putting the cart before the horse?
"Oh, that~"
Aozaki Touko's tone became solemn. "Of course it's because you're more important than the Magic Crest, Aoko!"
"..."
The instant she heard those words, Aozaki Aoko felt as though a needle had pierced her heart. An uncontrollable, sour feeling welled up inside her.
Then, as if trying to avoid something, she lowered her head and gripped her trousers tightly with her fair hands. Suppressing her emotions, she asked, "Why?"
"...Mm~"
Aozaki Touko smiled slightly. "Isn't the reason very simple? Since you want to enter the world of magi, wouldn't giving you the Fifth Magic be the best choice?"
"You abandoned it just like that?"
Aozaki Aoko raised her head, her eyes slightly red.
"...Mm."
Aozaki Touko revealed a gentle smile. "After all, you're a treasure more precious than the Magic Crest."
"..."
Aozaki Aoko pressed her lips together as tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string. Though she clung to a girl's reserve and pride and desperately tried to stop herself from crying, she could not stop the tears.
Seeing this, Aozaki Touko smiled helplessly, pulled Aoko into her arms, and patiently comforted her. Yet that movement seemed to trigger some strange switch. Aozaki Aoko's tears began to fall even more violently, and faint sobs could be heard.
After quite some time, Aozaki Aoko finally calmed down. She wiped away her tears and glanced at Aozaki Touko. After biting her lip lightly, she asked in an odd tone:
"Sis, is that all?"
"...About that~"
Aozaki Touko smiled faintly, leaned close to Aoko, and whispered a few words to her.
The next moment, Aozaki Aoko's cheeks flushed. Her eyes shifted several times before she seemed to finally make up her mind and leaned close to Aozaki Touko to whisper a few words.
Chapter Ninety-Three: Meeting
The following day.
At the Aozaki Household.
"..."
Aozaki Mom was washing dishes in the kitchen, while Irisviel and Illyasviel enthusiastically helped beside her. The scene was exceptionally warm, filled with a strong familial atmosphere.
It was wonderful that her daughter had managed to get married.
Aozaki Mom could not help praising it.
She did not actually need anyone to help with the housework. If she truly lacked assistance, she could simply hire a housemaid to take care of everything.
But this feeling was completely different. Her heart brimmed with indescribable joy.
How should this happiness be described?
As an analogy, it was probably like watching the son she had painstakingly raised suddenly bring home a gentle and elegant princess as his wife, and seeing that princess lower herself to help her, a commoner mother, with the housework.
She felt flattered, yet also filled with uncontrollable pride.
Moreover, the estrangement between her two daughters seemed to have been resolved unknowingly last night.
The sisterly conflict she had been so worried about probably would not happen after all.
"..."
Thinking this, Aozaki Mom glanced toward the living room. She saw Aozaki Aoko holding onto Aozaki Touko's arm, still as close as ever—in fact, even closer than before.
At the same time, Aozaki Touko seemed to sense something. She turned toward Aozaki Mom in the kitchen, glanced at the busy Irisviel, and said with a light laugh:
"Mom, Aoko and I are going to visit Azu~"
"...All right. Be careful on the way~"
Aozaki Mom nodded with a smile as Aozaki Touko led Aoko out of the house. Then she turned back and continued washing the dishes.
She did not ask why Touko was not bringing Irisviel and the others. She merely prayed silently that her genius daughter could handle this trial properly and get through it, rather than being driven out of the Western Mansion by Azu.
On the road.
"..."
Aozaki Aoko watched Touko walking ahead of her. Her long orange hair swayed in the wind, and her stride resembled that of a samurai. She made no unnecessary movements, blending dashing vigor and feminine grace perfectly.
"Sis, have you ever been watched by a red shadow?"
Aoko quickened her pace slightly, caught up with Touko, and asked.
"A red shadow? What happened to it?"
Aozaki Touko frowned slightly as she listened, recalling how the Counter Guardian had suddenly appeared yesterday for some unknown reason and stared at her.
To be honest, she really could not figure out why the Counter Guardian had been watching her. Was it worried that she would seize the Fifth Magic and cause trouble? Or had it judged that she could complete the Third Magic and intended to stop her?
Or had the Counter Guardian judged her a threat to humanity because of her genius?
She remembered a theory from her previous life: Kayneth had been judged dangerous by the Counter Guardian because of his genius and had therefore been placed on its kill list, dying in every world line.
Could she have run into the same ridiculous situation?
Still, even if that was the case, it did not matter. She had now completed the Reality Marble, "Eternal Doll Kingdom," and possessed extremely powerful immortality. Killing her would not be easy.
Besides... she had a beauty protecting her~
"Nothing much, even though it feels extremely dangerous~"
Aozaki Aoko shook her head and said, "I encountered a red figure once when I was little. At the time, Sis was secluded and studying magecraft, and I was so frightened that I went to find Grandpa~"
She still remembered the fear she had felt back then. She had anxiously run to her grandfather's cave, hoping to find Touko and seek her protection, but Touko had not been in the cave at all. She had gone out to experiment with magecraft.
"Why are you bringing this up now... Did you encounter the red figure again, Aoko?"
Aozaki Touko raised her eyebrows slightly.
"Two days ago... It suddenly appeared in the mirror while I was bathing~"
Aozaki Aoko swept back her black hair, her eyes filled with irritation and impatience.
At the time, because she had been in a foul mood, she had shifted her attention to the Magic Crest and wanted to see what magic truly was. But the red figure that suddenly appeared had frightened her badly.
"Mm... I also encountered that red shadow yesterday~"
Aozaki Touko smiled.
"Sis, do you know what it is?"
Aoko asked curiously.
"Mm... It's an unconscious collective called the Counter Guardian. It consists of Alaya and Gaia. Alaya is the collective unconsciousness of humanity, pursuing humanity's continuation. Gaia is the collective unconsciousness of Earth, pursuing the planet's continuation."
Aozaki Touko tilted her head as she spoke, showing no particular concern.
She already possessed extremely powerful immortality that made her very difficult to kill. With Root Shiki's faint, intermittent protection as well, the Counter Guardian had practically no chance of finding an opportunity to kill her.
"..."
Aoko digested the information, then asked, "Sis, do you know whether that red figure was Gaia or Alaya?"
"Mm... I don't know~"
Aozaki Touko shook her head and said, "Either of them might come to watch you. After all, magic has already made them feel threatened."
That was right. Both Gaia and Alaya had reason to watch Aozaki Aoko, so determining which one it was would not be easy.
"...I've been targeted by such troublesome things. If I get the chance, I'll definitely beat them up properly!"
The more Aoko spoke, the fiercer her expression became.
She recalled being frightened into tears as a child, as well as the terrifying sensation of the red figure suddenly appearing while she was bathing. Those unpleasant memories caused the aggression in her heart to rise constantly.
"Probably~"
Seeing this, Aozaki Touko laughed happily. She found Aoko rather cute even with that fierce expression.
"You don't seem worried, Sis?"
Aozaki Aoko turned to look at Touko.
"Mm... They were driven away yesterday~"
Aozaki Touko smiled slyly. "They probably won't come looking for me again."
"How did you do that?!"
At those words, Aozaki Aoko's eyes lit up. She eagerly wanted to know how. If she could drive away that red shadow, she would not have to worry about it suddenly popping out again.
"Mm... I relied on that little girl~"
Aozaki Touko stopped and pointed at a little girl in the distance. Aozaki Aoko followed the direction of her finger and saw a young girl wearing a kimono.
"..."
On the street stood a cold, aloof little girl in a kimono. Her eyes were fixed tightly on Aozaki Touko, as though she wanted to carve Touko into her heart.
"Are you Aozaki Touko?"
After a while, the kimono-clad girl asked bluntly.
Chapter Ninety-Four: Little Girl Ryougi Shiki
She had come back.
She had come back.
She had come back.
Just last night, that woman called Aozaki Touko—the woman who knew her future, who truly knew her, and who made her emotions feel strange.
Just last night, she had come back.
Before you continue