Fate/Magus Path

By the next morning, most of the participants from the previous night's events had gathered at the Kuonji witch's mansion.

However, aside from Alice Kuonji, who was still exhausted from the prolonged battle and resting in her room, the others showed little signs of fatigue. Touko Aozaki had refreshed her state by dying once, Aoko Aozaki and Roy had stabilized their conditions using their respective Magics, Shiki Ryougi was carrying Avalon, and Arcueid had barely been involved.

Last night, she had merely gone through the motions with Merem, while Roy had single-handedly dealt with Vlov, Roa, and the Child of Einnashe.

All she had done was keep watch from the sidelines, contributing little to the actual fight. Even her attempt to kill Roa had backfired, nearly putting Roy in danger. She had been the one being protected all along...

The thought left her feeling disheartened, so she decided to go out for a walk to clear her mind.

"This incident saw the elimination of two active Dead Apostle Ancestors and the complete resolution of the Roa problem," Roy remarked, leaning back in his chair.

"With this, everything should be settled."

The intense week-long ordeal had finally come to an end, and now he could afford to relax for a while.

"Yeah..."

"Though it was supposed to be a team effort, you were the one who solved everything," Aoko said, her tone tinged with frustration. What had seemed like a group effort had essentially been Roy carrying the entire battle on his shoulders.

Even though the battlefield was in her city, and she was the one responsible for managing the leylines, she had merely played a supporting role. All the tough opponents had been handled by Roy.

Worse still, due to her poor compatibility with the situation, she hadn't even managed to take down a single Child of Einnashe.

Touko, who had returned that morning, couldn't resist taunting Aoko, who was slumped in her chair.

"Well, well, I heard all about last night's events from Shiki. As expected, Aoko, you were as useless as ever. Even as a Magician, you couldn't handle a single offspring of a Dead Apostle Ancestor?"

"Don't act so high and mighty, Touko. If we're talking about incompetence, you, a Grand Magus wannabe, were the first to be taken out. By the time you came back, everything was already over. If we're comparing, you're the more useless one here."

Aoko shot back, glaring at her sister. If she hadn't been so drained from spending half the night exchanging magical blasts with the Forest of Einnashe, she would have gladly put her older sister in her place, reminding her who was stronger now.

"Still, because of those monsters' sudden attack, Misaki City suffered quite a few casualties. Thankfully, the Church managed to cover it up and even took care of the compensation for the damages," Aoko said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Half the city was blown up, and several kilometers of forest near the mansion were destroyed. If I had to cover the compensation as the city's manager, even selling off the Aozaki family wouldn't be enough."

The forest near Alice's mansion, connected to the Child of Einnashe, had been dragged into Roy's Reality Marble and annihilated by the angel, leaving behind only scattered wood chips. The area now looked barren and out of place.

But given the circumstances, it was a miracle that the fragile mansion had survived. Alice only cared about the mansion itself; the surrounding forest could always be replanted.

"By the way, where's Shiki? Is she still wandering around outside?" Aoko suddenly remembered the girl who had fought alongside her last night.

"No, the Church took over the task of dealing with the remaining Dead Apostles. She's probably somewhere practicing her swordplay, still processing the events of last night," Touko replied.

"Ah, it seems this experience has left quite an impact on her."

"A significant impact?"

"Being nearly taken out by a bomb alongside you made her feel inadequate. She thinks she needs to improve further."

Inadequate...

Touko frowned.

Wasn't that indirectly including her as well?

Though, being taken out so early was indeed a sign of incompetence...

"Well... it's not a big deal. She's still young, and with those eyes of hers, her future is bound to be bright," Touko sighed, expressing her helplessness toward the girl's determination.

"However, Shiki feels that her mastery of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception and her overall training are still lacking. I had hoped she could use her eyes to help Arcueid with her bloodlust, but it wasn't entirely successful."

"Eh? Even those eyes couldn't completely eliminate Arcueid's bloodlust?"

Touko was intrigued. She was well aware of the power of the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

Roy shook his head. "It worked, but not completely."

"At best, it suppressed Arcueid's bloodlust for a few hundred years. It didn't address the root of the problem. While Arcueid thinks this is already a good outcome, Shiki clearly isn't satisfied."

The main issue was that he hadn't seen Void Shiki in a long time. If she had been the one to act, the problem could have been resolved. He had tried to get Shiki to summon Void Shiki, her third personality, but received no response.

Still, the situation had been resolved quite satisfactorily, and everyone had achieved a relatively happy ending.

"So, boss, what's next? Are we leaving right away?"

"Yes, it's about time. Zelretch's commission has been fulfilled to this extent, and there's no need for me to stay any longer. Once I handle a few remaining matters, I'll be on my way."

With that, Roy stood up from his chair.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Merem wants to meet me at the Church. He has something to discuss. I'll head out now, Touko."

"If anything comes up, just call me. You're free to leave whenever you want. Your task is complete."

"Understood..."

"After all this trouble, I still didn't contribute much. What a failure," Touko muttered, leaning back in Roy's chair and lighting a cigarette as she watched him leave.

"But not being scolded for it... working under such a boss might not be so bad after all."

"Hey, Touko."

Seeing Roy leave, Aoko, surprisingly, initiated a conversation with her sister, catching Touko off guard.

"Huh? What do you want now?"

Touko frowned, eyeing her younger sister with suspicion.

"Relax, I'm not here to pick a fight. I just have something I want to ask you."

"Ask me? You?"

Touko's eyes widened in shock, the cigarette nearly falling from her mouth.

Had the sun risen from the west? Aoko was actually seeking her advice?

She reached out, feeling Aoko's forehead, then her own, her confusion deepening.

"No fever... so why are you acting so strange? Did you not get enough sleep?"

Touko's teasing finally pushed Aoko over the edge, and she snapped back in her usual abrasive tone.

"Idiot! I'm not sick! I just want to ask you, as a holder of the Grand title, if you know how to quickly master a Reality Marble!"

"Master a Reality Marble? You?"

Touko was stunned.

"You? A Reality Marble? Hahahaha, you can't even grasp basic magical theory, and now you want to master a Reality Marble? Are you trying to kill me with laughter?"

She burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. "You're only strong because of your Magic and innate abilities. Your understanding of magecraft, origins, and bounded fields is practically zero. Seeing someone else use a Reality Marble and wanting to learn it yourself? How naive, my foolish little sister."

"If it were that easy to learn, I would have mastered it by now. Why would I wait for you to ask me?"

"After all that talk, you don't know how to do it either. What right do you have to laugh at me?"

"True, I don't know how, but at least I have some self-awareness. Unlike you, my dear, foolish sister."

"Who are you calling foolish?!"

After their usual bickering, the two sisters, as if destined to be rivals, inevitably ended up in a scuffle inside Alice's mansion.

And, as expected, they were both thrown out by the mansion's owner, who had been woken up by their noise.

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