Fate/Magus Path

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... "

*Boom!*

Before Alice could finish her sentence, a loud explosion echoed from outside the mansion.

She immediately sensed that the many bounded fields she had painstakingly set up were being triggered at a rapid pace.

Someone or something was charging toward them at incredible speed!

And they weren't slowing down at all?!

Was it the golden wolf? No, it couldn't be. Alice knew the wolf's abilities well, and this was beyond its capacity.

"How is this possible?"

Whoever... or whatever... was effortlessly breaking through her meticulously crafted magical defenses had to be some kind of monster. Even if two Touko Aozaki's combined forces, they couldn't possibly pull this off.

What in the world was going on?

As Alice's expression grew grim, Aoko also began to worry. She quickly stepped forward to ask what was happening.

"What's wrong, Alice? What's going on?"

"It's not just my defenses... the Aozaki family's grand bounded field has been broken as well..."

All of Alice's previous composure vanished. Her eyes widened, and her pale face turned livid with shock and anger.

The situation was so dire that even Aoko quickly realized something was amiss.

"Alice, you don't mean… the grand bounded field covering Misaki Town?"

"Yes. The enemy somehow disabled the key points around the city and the mansion, then shattered the grand bounded field covering all of Misaki Town."

"With two of the key points destroyed, the grand bounded field has been weakened by about 30%."

As she spoke, Alice checked the extent of the damage, her expression growing more and more severe.

The enemy didn't bother gradually dismantling the bounded fields to gain entry into her magical workshop. Instead, they attacked the grand bounded field directly.

Were they trying to force them out to confront them?

"How could something like this even happen?!"

The grand bounded field protecting Misaki Town was set up by the Aozaki family's grandfather, using pentagrams as focal points and gathering the city's leyline to monitor and protect against magical threats.

Alice had extended the grand bounded field, connecting it to her mansion to create an additional protective bounded field.

As long as the leyline manager remained in the area, she could use the mansion's workshop to tap into the land's magical energy and fight off intruders.

But the enemy clearly knew this, so they targeted the key points first, weakening the bounded field from outside to trigger a chain reaction of small bounded field collapses, nullifying their advantage as leyline managers.

Only someone like Touko Aozaki could have known the positions of the grand bounded field's key points and the flow of the leylines!

"She actually went this far!"

Realizing the possibility, Aoko's anger flared.

She never imagined her sister would be so insane, going as far as to destroy the Aozaki family's century-old grand bounded field just to confront her, even denying her role as the leyline manager.

Didn't she realize the chaos this could bring to the city if the grand bounded field, which monitored and regulated magical activity, was destroyed?

She's completely lost her mind. All of this, just for something so petty.

"I won't let you get away with this, Touko!"

Clenching her fists, Aoko growled through gritted teeth, her overflowing magical power betraying her fury.

Compared to Aoko's hot temper, Alice Kuonji remained much calmer, still trying to analyze the situation and find a way to fix it.

"Calm down, Aoko. This is more complicated than you think."

Even if someone knew the locations of the key points, breaking the grand bounded field was supposed to be impossible. To do so meant fighting against the leylines of all of Misaki Town, which required immense magical power. Yet, the enemy had done it... and in a matter of moments.

Alice couldn't understand how, but she suspected there was more to this than they knew.

Now that their leyline-powered advantage was gone, they would have to rely on their own strength to confront the enemy.

Seeing her friend struggling to contain her anger, Alice cautioned her.

"Aoko, this enemy is no joke. Touko has clearly prepared for this. You need to be extra careful."

"I know, Alice. Strangely, I'm not losing my composure because of my anger. In fact, I've never been more calm..."

Aoko said slowly, "I can't wait to crush my sister and her lackeys together!"

Wait, she's not calm at all!

Alice Kuonji rarely showed signs of anxiety, but she couldn't help but feel worried.

This time, the opponent wasn't just Touko Aozaki, nor was it the usual trivial matters. The enemy's strength far surpassed what they'd imagined. Although she believed in Aoko's abilities, could she really win in her current irrational state? Or was she falling right into the enemy's trap?

Touko's ruthlessness wasn't something to be taken lightly.

The sixth sense of a witch buzzed in her mind, an unprecedented feeling of unease and fear weighing on her heart.

"Alice, what should we do now? Should we take the initiative and attack head-on, or..."

Though furious to the core, Aoko Aozaki, the protector of Misaki Town's ley lines, understood the gravity of the situation. At times like this, she knew she had to remain calm, so she decided to listen to the advice of her close friend.

"No, Aoko. We don't yet know the opponent's exact strength or numbers. If we rush out to face them, we'll definitely fall into Touko's trap. From the looks of it, they don't seem to be planning to storm the mansion directly to fight us, which means we still have time."

"Go stand guard near the mansion's gate to prevent any intruders from entering. In the meantime, I'll use The Song of Sixpence and The Mirror of Slumber to figure out the enemy's movements."

As she spoke, Alice Kuonji waved her arm, conjuring a large, ornate blue magic mirror within the mansion.

"Understood."

Aoko nodded.

However, just as she was about to use the magic mirror to trace the enemy's actions, an untimely voice reached their ears.

"No need to search, Miss Witch. I'm already inside."

Accompanied by a gentle male voice, the figure of Roy silently appeared, sitting in a chair within the mansion.

It was the same spot Aoko Aozaki had been sitting moments before.

The scene shown in the magic mirror was none other than the interior of the mansion.

Seeing that the enemy had bypassed her defenses and entered so stealthily, Alice Kuonji's face darkened.

"Uninvited guests are not welcome here."

Aoko, recognizing the intruder's face, slightly widened her eyes and pointed at Roy in surprise. "You're the guy from the noodle shop earlier today!"

"That's right, Miss Aoko, we meet again."

Roy smiled, stood up, and bowed to her.

"I was able to enter the mansion so easily thanks to you."

"Thanks to me?"

Aoko was confused by his words.

Could he have followed her to find Alice's mansion? But that didn't make sense; Touko surely knew the mansion's location, and as Touko's ally, it wouldn't have been a secret to him.

Roy didn't answer directly. Instead, he waved his hand, and a pale blue butterfly emerged from Aoko's bag, fluttering around the room.

"A familiar?!"

Alice Kuonji's eyes widened in shock, and Aoko's expression turned grim.

"You put a familiar in my bag?!"

"Yes, I initially wanted to test it, but I didn't expect that, in your rush to return, you didn't even notice."

"As a result, my familiar reached the mansion without any obstacles, thanks to you. I really appreciate it; you saved me quite a bit of effort."

"You bastard! How dare you use me! So, you're the helper Touko called in?!"

Realizing she'd been tricked, Aoko was enraged and prepared to charge at him.

Roy, however, didn't evade. He simply smiled calmly, watching her.

"Calm down, Aoko."

Alice stopped her.

"But Alice, I..."

It was her fault. All because she panicked upon hearing about Touko, she had lost her composure, allowing the enemy to take advantage of the situation.

She should have been more cautious. Knowing that he was Touko's ally, why did she treat him like an ordinary person? If she had checked more carefully before returning, this wouldn't have happened. It was all her fault.

A variety of emotions... shame, guilt, anger... flashed across Aoko's face.

"No, calm down, Aoko. I don't blame you. The fact that his familiar managed to avoid my detection and enter the mansion is partly my responsibility. Now isn't the time to shift blame."

Alice called out to her, then shot a cold glance at Roy and spoke in a frosty tone, "Now that you've entered the mansion, intruder, what do you want?"

Already analyzed the situation and formulated a countermeasure so quickly? She truly deserved Touko's praise... a true pure-blooded fairytale witch.

Roy acknowledged Alice's quick thinking with a nod of approval.

"Although it was impolite to barge in, my purpose today isn't just a visit."

"I come on behalf of someone else. Miss Aoko, I am here to declare war on you."

"Declare war?"

Aoko's face darkened. "You're here on behalf of my sister, aren't you?"

"That's correct. I am here as Touko's representative."

Roy nodded. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Roy, the new Magician of the Third Magic. I challenge you, Aoko Aozaki, the Magician of the Fifth Magic. The duel will be at midnight tonight, at the old school building. I hope you will be there on time."

Third Magic!

As soon as they heard this, Aoko and Alice caught on to the critical detail.

No wonder he had the power to break through the grand bounded field. This young man was also a Magician, just like Aoko! Touko had actually found another Magician to help her!

Their wariness grew deeper.

"It seems the two ladies aren't too happy about my arrival."

Sensing their wariness, Roy wasn't offended. Instead, he smiled gently.

"It's fine if you don't show up. I'm merely extending an invitation, as a gesture of respect. I don't just want to help Touko; I genuinely wish to face the legendary Magic Blue in battle."

"However, if you don't come, be prepared for the fight to happen here in the mansion next time."

With that, Roy clapped his hands lightly and prepared to leave.

"Wait! You broke the grand bounded field, infiltrated Alice's mansion, and even tricked me. I won't let you leave so easily!"

Aoko blocked his way, her hand turning into a gun, with blue magic bullets gathering at her fingertips, aimed at Roy.

"Oh? You want to fight here and now?"

Seeing Aoko's rising magical power and battle stance, Roy smiled warmly.

"If you wish to fight, I'm always ready."

"But I advise you to lower your magical energy, Miss Aoko. This is not a good place for battle."

He glanced at the silent Alice.

"I'm sure Miss Witch would agree with me."

"..."

Alice lowered her head in silence.

This mansion was her most treasured place. There was no way she would allow them to fight here.

Seeing this, Aoko's hand, which was gathering magic bullets, began to waver.

"Of course, you two could join forces and try to take me down here. But it would be meaningless. The me you see here is just a projection, materialized using a familiar."

Roy's words cut deep. "And I doubt Miss Witch would want to see her beloved mansion reduced to rubble because of a fight, right?"

"Despicable..."

"Using the mansion to threaten Alice... I thought you were a good person."

Aoko frowned deeply, her voice filled with anger. After a brief internal struggle, she finally lowered her hand.

As Roy said, he was just a projection. Destroying him wouldn't change anything, and Alice cherished this mansion more than anything. She couldn't let anyone, not even herself, damage it.

"A wise decision."

Seeing Aoko lower her hand, Roy secretly sighed in relief.

He only wanted to fulfill his promise to Touko and challenge the Magician of the Fifth Magic. He didn't want to go too far or destroy anyone's treasured belongings.

He didn't want innocent people to suffer because of their personal conflicts.

If Aoko had insisted on fighting, he would have canceled his projection to prevent the battle.

"I apologize, Miss Aoko. For the sake of fairness in the duel, I had no choice. If you're unhappy, you can discuss it with your sister later. Once everything is settled, I will personally come to apologize."

"We have our own positions to uphold, but that doesn't make us enemies."

He then turned to the silent Alice, bowed slightly, and sincerely apologized.

"Likewise, Miss Witch, I apologize for my rude intrusion today. I am willing to offer compensation afterward."

"But I must offer a piece of advice."

"I hope you will refrain from interfering in the upcoming battle between Magicians, for your own safety."

As he finished speaking, Roy's body began to dissolve into blue particles of light, and soon he disappeared, leaving behind two girls staring at each other in the mansion.

___

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