Chapter 54: Roy the Monk
When Aozaki Touko returned, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt as if her world was crumbling.
"Touko-sama, why didn't you come back a few hours earlier?"
"Hmm? Oh!"
Aozaki Touko seemed momentarily puzzled, but when she noticed the familiar marks all over Utaha's body, realization dawned, and she let out a mischievous chuckle.
"Haha, I see... So Roy's curse flared up again. Well, it's not all bad, is it? You don't dislike the kid, do you?"
"I mean, I don't dislike him, but..."
Utaha sighed, exhausted and overwhelmed.
If given a choice, she would have preferred to reach this point naturally—under circumstances that didn't involve a chaotic curse.
Instead, her first experience had been in a situation where Roy wasn't even conscious, driven mad by his own curse. To make matters worse, she was fully aware of the ambiguous relationship between Roy and Aozaki Touko. It left her feeling like an intruder, the "other woman" in someone else's relationship.
Should she see herself as Roy's lover after this? Or should she treat this as merely repaying a debt, and continue to keep her distance moving forward?
"Oh, you don't need to worry about me," Touko said, instantly seeing through Utaha's internal struggle. She waved her hand dismissively, as if to say none of it mattered.
It was almost as if she was implying that her relationship with Roy wasn't romantic at all.
Then why did she go so far for him? Was this just how magicians operated?
"Enough with that. Let me tell you something good."
Aozaki Touko stepped out to the courtyard, sliding open the glass door, and sat down on the corridor ledge.
She extended a hand toward Utaha, who looked on in confusion, signaling her to come closer.
Utaha, still perplexed, placed her hand in Touko's.
Was her emotional turmoil really that trivial in Touko's eyes?
Suddenly, a soft hum escaped Utaha's lips.
She looked down in surprise at their joined hands. From Touko's palm, a subtle warmth was seeping into her, circulating through her body before returning to the center, as if some internal switch had been flipped.
"Ah!"
Utaha let out a small gasp as her face flushed with warmth.
In that moment, something inside her had changed—she could feel it.
A new sensation coursed through her, something she'd never experienced before.
"Try using it. Imagine those nerves in your body like pipelines, transporting oil from deep within you. Picture it that way," Touko said, a cryptic smile on her lips.
Hearing this, Illya suddenly turned around, her expression full of disbelief.
"No way...!"
Though Utaha didn't fully understand, she followed Touko's instructions and began imagining what she'd said.
In an instant, those strange nerves seemed to spring to life, extracting energy from deep within her body like a machine squeezing out juice.
A faint blue glow began to emit from her skin.
Utaha was so startled, she broke her concentration, causing the glowing nerves to cool and stop.
"W-What... is happening?"
Panting heavily, she stared at her hands in confusion, completely disoriented by the unfamiliarity of her own body.
She wasn't sure what had changed, but it felt like her body was no longer hers.
"This... this is unbelievable!"
Illya shot to her feet, glaring at Utaha with wide eyes.
The Nakano sisters and even Hayasaka Ai, busy in the kitchen, turned their heads, their curiosity piqued.
"Calm down," Touko said with a soft smile, her expression relaxed as if this were all expected. "Your body hasn't changed. You've just gained something new."
"Gained something?"
Utaha asked, still processing what had just happened. "What did I gain?"
It couldn't be something strange, right?
"You've gained a magic circuit."
Touko's grin widened.
"You now have magic circuits in your body. What I just taught you was how to activate them and draw out your mana."
"Magic circuits?!"
Utaha's eyes widened in shock.
Ichika, Miku, and Hayasaka all exchanged glances, their eyes lighting up with barely concealed hope.
"But... I don't have magic circuits."
Utaha remembered the time Roy had tested her and Hayasaka.
The result had been clear—neither of them had even a single magic circuit. There was no way she could ever wield magic.
Could Roy have made a mistake?
"You didn't have any before," Touko said, her tone growing more cryptic.
"But now you do."
Utaha was still trying to grasp the situation when Illya spoke up, her disbelief turning into an outburst.
"That's impossible!"
"Magic circuits are determined at birth! There's no way they can be added later. Magic circuits are nerves tied to the soul. You can't just suddenly gain them!" Illya's voice shook with frustration. What she was witnessing defied everything she knew as a magician.
If news of this got out, the entire magical world would go mad. It was that unthinkable.
The idea that magic circuits could be acquired later in life was an absolute law, a fact as solid as the foundations of magic itself.
"This is real. You're a magician, aren't you? Then face reality and use it." Touko's words were blunt, though there was an undertone of mentorship. In her eyes, Illya still had a long way to go before she could call herself a true magician.
"I... have magic circuits now!"
Utaha's mind raced, though there was no denying the surge of joy she felt.
"But why...?"
How could she have gone from having no circuits to suddenly possessing them?
Was it because her body had adapted to this new world?
"It's simple," Touko said, lighting a cigarette, her tone growing enigmatic.
Her lips curved into an eerie smile.
"Roy's body has a certain... characteristic. Or rather, his soul has. It's something he's unaware of himself, something I only recently discovered. That trait is called 'adaptation'—his body can adapt to modifications that would be impossible for others."
"When you slept with him, something must have stayed behind. That was pure life force, the most refined kind a magician can offer. You absorbed it, and your body adapted."
Touko's explanation hung in the air like a surreal dream.
Every woman in the room, including Hayasaka peeking from the kitchen, stood there wide-eyed and speechless.
So... Roy was—
The genuine article.
A monk of legend.
The real deal.
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