The time rewinds back to this morning.
Not long after Aozaki Aoko left the mansion, a Familiar flew to its front yard and dropped a letter into the courtyard, which was soon picked up by the mansion's Master.
There was no signature on the paper, only a reminder to be wary of collusion from within and without. The Familiar itself was hastily crafted, leaving no trace of personal style. It was an anonymous warning.
The moment Aozaki Aoko saw this letter, her thoughts immediately jumped to Ryoji.
"So you believed it just like that?"
Ryoji stared at the letter in his hand, its words nothing more than a few cut-out scraps from a newspaper. He was nearly dumbfounded.
'What kind of idiot was this girl?'
'I talk myself hoarse trying to convince you, and you don't believe a word, yet some stranger tosses you a scrap of paper and suddenly you come rushing over to kill me?'
"Of course I'm not that stupid!"
The look in his eyes, like he was staring at a complete fool, instantly lit a fire in Aozaki Aoko.
"Even if I don't want to admit it, I don't think you're that kind of person. But Alice doesn't believe me!"
That's right.
Even though they'd only spoken for less than half a day, Aozaki Aoko instinctively felt Ryoji wasn't that type of man.
And that was what made her the angriest!
'Why the hell do I trust this guy so much? Because he pissed me off several times already?'
Aozaki Aoko was certain the sender of that letter harbored ill intent. She had argued with her roommate for quite some time, trying to persuade her otherwise.
Her roommate, however, gave no comment on such "intuitive" judgments.
Instead, she had already decided to make a move and eliminate the suspicious Magus.
"So your roommate wants to kill me?"
"…Alice isn't like me. She's a Magus in every sense of the word."
Aozaki Aoko rubbed her temples and stood up, brushing the dust from her skirt.
The worldview of the Magi was fundamentally different from that of ordinary people.
Their territorial awareness was especially strong. After all, most Magi took great pride in possessing their own "Mystic Grounds", lands saturated with mystery, where strange phenomena occurred from time to time.
A prime Mystic Ground could be as precious to a Magus family as their Mystic Codes or Crests, an heirloom in its own right.
Thus, an unknown individual of great power lurking about was more intolerable to a Magus than almost anything else.
If one came openly, lowered their posture, and maybe offered some gifts, a hospitable Magus might allow them to stay. But to sneak onto their land without a word and hide away? In their eyes, that was no different from a thief trying to seize their domain.
Over the years, Alice had already dealt with more than one intruder who attempted to plunder her Mystic Ground.
"Are you insane!?"
Ryoji rolled his eyes.
She's acting like Kinoko City actually belongs to them!
Your territory is in Misaki Town! It's only because of some bizarre twist of fate that you ended up in this strange world, didn't even notice, and then had the gall to claim this place as your domain.
Too bad this world doesn't even have a Misaki Town, or Fuyuki City, for that matter. Otherwise, he'd have pointed right at their noses and cursed them out as complete idiots.
But in this situation, calling someone else an idiot would only make him look like the idiot.
"So then, why was it you who came to kill me?"
"Correction, I came to save you!"
Aozaki Aoko lifted her chin and puffed out her chest, full of confidence, though her expression was still sour.
"Alice is incredibly powerful. She's on a completely different level compared to ordinary Magi. If she made a move, you'd probably die on the spot. That's why I begged and argued until she agreed to let me test you first!"
So that's how it was.
No wonder her words were sharp, but her hands were soft.
She had persuaded her roommate to let her make the first move, to probe him a little before deciding anything final. At the very least, it could ensure Ryoji kept his life, rather than dying at Alice's hands.
"You've got some guts. Weren't you afraid I'd take you down instead?"
"How was I supposed to know you were this strong…"
Aozaki Aoko muttered something that was basically nonsense, her voice low.
No matter how powerful a Magus was, their body was still human at its core, what they possessed were merely countless methods capable of producing miracles. The strength of a Magus in battle was measured by the strength of the miracles they could command.
But who could have guessed that this bastard had already surpassed human limits, sprinting straight into the realm of monsters? Ordinary Magi were absolutely no match for him.
"Well, now you've tested me. What's your plan next?"
"Eh…"
Aozaki Aoko suddenly choked on her words.
Ryoji narrowed his eyes and a bad feeling crept into his chest.
"We agreed that if you turned out to be weak, it wouldn't matter. After all, you'd be no threat."
Her gaze started to waver, her face betraying hesitation.
"But if your strength turned out to be very high…"
Wonderful.
Ryoji could already guess where this was going.
A chill wind blew past.
The air around them suddenly shifted into something wrong.
Like a mirage, the distance between heaven and earth stretched farther apart, the air turning murky in an instant. The white moon, previously hidden behind thick clouds, revealed itself at last, only now dyed a ghastly green.
The same eerie color bled across the earth and the amusement park, staining everything in sight.
"Damn it!"
Aozaki Aoko's expression darkened instantly.
"That girl Alice, she actually opened with one of the big ones?!"
Her face showed faint traces of anxiety.
She clearly wanted to communicate with her roommate again, but after glancing left and right she couldn't spot Alice anywhere, which only made her grow more frantic.
"What exactly is this 'big one' supposed to be?"
Even Ryoji began to feel a creeping sense of unease.
It didn't make sense.
Everyone knew that in the TYPE-MOON world, Magi had grown weaker as the modern era advanced. Magi whose strength could rival a Heroic Spirit were all but extinct in this age.
And yet, his instincts were sounding alarms.
"Alice! Can you hear me, Alice!"
Aozaki Aoko ignored Ryoji's question and simply shouted at the top of her lungs.
But no matter how long she called, there was no reply. At last she could only give up, shoulders slumping in resignation.
"Looks like Alice thinks your threat is too great. She doesn't want to show herself to you, so she's controlling a Familiar to fight from a distance instead."
She sighed heavily, the sound equal parts exasperation and weariness. Her head really was aching now, though more from stress than anything else.
"This is a Familiar? Isn't it a bit too big?"
Ryoji looked out across the warped landscape.
Everything in sight felt as if it had shifted into another world, the entire space swaying and twisting. If this was the work of a Familiar, then this Familiar's power was utterly ridiculous.
"I told you, Alice is a Magus of a completely different dimension. Even other Magi, when they see her in action, can't help but curse her out, accusing her of outright cheating."
Aozaki Aoko took a deep breath and quickly began explaining.
"Alice has many Familiars under her command, most of them bizarre beyond comprehension. But among them are three that stand apart, three advanced beings, crystalline miracles that defy imagination."
"And this one… is probably one of those three, Flat Snark, also known as the Oil of the Moon!"
(End of Chapter)
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