Sajyou Ayaka gazed at Sajyou Manaka before her, somewhat lost in thought.
She had known from an early age that her older sister was beautiful.
But perhaps because she stood in the gentle morning light, the smile on her face was even more beautiful and dazzling than before, as though cloaked in the radiance of the world.
Sajyou Ayaka had felt this way for a long time: if the world were a castle, her sister would be the princess dancing gracefully inside it, with nothing to worry about.
Like an omnipotent god, she not only excelled at her studies but effortlessly handled the Magecraft passed down by the Previous Shrine Maiden, even surpassing their father. Everything seemed easy for her, unlike Ayaka, who was bad at both arithmetic and Magecraft.
Although they were only six years apart, Sajyou Ayaka, who had gradually come to understand the disparities in the world, felt deeply inferior whenever she spent time with her sister.
Thus, she had long since accepted that Sajyou Manaka was special.
Even if her sister was usually like a blank sheet of paper, or a machine, never doing anything unnecessary, merely eating together at the appointed times day after day and studying when it was time to study, spending most of her time alone and expressionless, never responding of her own accord unless someone spoke to her first, like a living doll.
Even so, that did not stop her perfect sister from being her idol.
Today, however, her sister seemed a little different. Not only had she departed from her usual routine, but she even smiled at Ayaka of her own accord, something Ayaka had not seen in a long time.
Sajyou Ayaka had thought her all-capable sister could never experience the joy of success or the pleasure of trying,