Fate/Magus Path

112 Declaration

Around 9 PM.
The Kuonji mansion.

"So... where is my dinner, Aoko?"

The fairy-tale witch, Alice Kuonji, who had been busy all day, quietly gazed at Aoko Aozaki with a calm, somewhat indifferent tone.

"Huh?! Alice, is now really the time to be asking about dinner?"

Faced with her close friend's calmness, Aoko Aozaki felt a little frustrated.

'Of all times, you're still thinking about dinner? My terrifying sister is back!'

Aoko knew all too well how difficult her sister was to deal with, and the man she encountered today was clearly no ordinary person either.

Even with her tracking skills, he easily lost her after just a few streets. His movements were so well hidden that she searched half the city and found no trace of him.

Her sister had obviously come back prepared this time.

"Calm down, Aoko. Whenever you encounter trouble, you lose your composure. You've always been rash like this, ever since we were kids. It seems that's one flaw you still haven't managed to fix."

The black witch closed her book and looked at her friend with a touch of exasperation.

"Actually, I knew about Touko's return even before you did."

"W-W-W-What?! When?!"

"Recently, this city has been teeming with the ones lurking in the shadows. I didn't expect that even Touko would take this chance to return."

"The intelligence came from the Song of Sixpence earlier this morning."

"Huh? Why didn't you tell me? What if I had run into her in Misaki Town today?"

The thought of the young man she met at the noodle shop today... someone who claimed to be Touko's friend... filled Aoko with a sense of relief, as though she had narrowly avoided disaster.

If Touko had shown up at that shop, wouldn't they have run into each other face-to-face? Just imagining such a terrifying scenario made her feel uneasy. Though it had been over ten years since they last saw each other, and their sisterly conflict should have faded by now, Aoko was sure that if they met, neither of them would be able to resist a fight, and things would spiral out of control.

In response to Aoko's protest, the witch simply let out a cold laugh.

"Heh..."

"I did tell you this morning, but you were too busy playing video games in your room to hear me."

"Huh?!!"

Aoko blinked, stunned by Alice's words.

"Did I? Maybe... possibly... okay, that could've happened..."

Reflecting on the past few days, Aoko realized she had spent most of her time either sleeping, wandering around town, or playing video games. Ignoring Alice's message wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility...

Her expression quickly turned awkward as she apologized without hesitation.

"My bad, my bad, Alice. I shouldn't have been so focused on shopping and gaming. I'm really sorry."

"As long as you understand. But there's no need to worry too much."

Seeing Aoko apologize, Alice Kuonji's stiff attitude softened, though her tone remained as indifferent as ever.

"Thanks to those lurking in the shadows, I've already placed extensive bounded fields around the mansion over the past few days. And with my familiars patrolling, even if Touko and that golden wolf of hers attack, they won't be able to... "