[28]

Sitting in the student council office, Aoko suddenly heard a commotion outside the window. She stood up and looked out, noticing a group of male students loitering in the shadows near the school gate, making the area much noisier than usual.

What are these monkeys up to?

Aoko frowned, thinking to herself. She squinted and soon saw the reason. There, standing in the middle of the road at the school gate, was a girl. She wore a black cape over clothing that closely resembled a nun's habit. Aoko recognized the outfit instantly—it was the uniform of the famous all-girls Reien Girl's Academy. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was none other than Alice.

What's Alice doing here at Misaki High?

Naturally, the boys from Misaki were drawn to her, first because of Reien Girl's Academy's elite reputation, and second because Alice, standing there looking so delicate and forlorn, seemed as charming as a figure out of a painting.

"Idiots," Aoko muttered, glaring at the crowd around the gate.

"Tsukiji, Kumanari, the rest is up to you. I have something to take care of, so I'm leaving."

Before the other student council members could react, Aoko grabbed her jacket and motorcycle helmet and strode out of the office.

...

"Hey, hey, isn't that the student council president?!"

"Her hair's dyed red—so scary… Is she going to eat that girl alive?"

"What do you mean, dyed red? Her hair's always been red."

"Is she going to chase that girl away? How heartless… That poor girl—"

Aoko shot a glare at the boys near the gate, and they scattered like frightened animals. Then, she put on her helmet, went to the parking shed, and rode her motorcycle over to where Alice was standing.

"Get on," Aoko said, motioning with her thumb to the seat behind her, indicating that Alice should hop on.

Due to her Reien Girl's Academy, Alice couldn't straddle the seat, so she sat side-saddle with a witch-like grace on the back of Aoko's motorcycle. Then, she extended her slender arms and wrapped them around Aoko's waist.

"Ahh?!—"

The boys watching from afar let out a collective groan as if something inside them had shattered.

Aozaki Aoko kept her gaze forward, twisted the throttle of her Interceptor, released the clutch, and in a cloud of dust, she and Alice sped off, leaving the students of Misaki High in awe.

"Damn it! Aozaki Aoko! Can't you leave us with even a shred of hope in our high school lives?!"

…That's how the boys wailed. Tsukiji, who had been standing by the office window, sighed as he heard them, then closed the window and returned to his seat.

...

"…You're quite popular at school, Aoko," Alice said from the back seat of the motorcycle.

"How can you tell?"

Aoko replied.

"I skip school all the time. How could I possibly be popular?"

"…That male student who came into contact with Touko," Alice said coldly, ignoring Aoko's question.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"Who?"

Aoko pretended to think for a moment, as if she didn't know, then answered, "Oh, you mean that poor guy I placed a suggestion on?"

"You're not a beginner. You should understand the secrecy principle of magus, right?"

Alice pressed, her tone unrelenting. Aoko felt Alice's arms around her waist tighten.

"I've already erased his relevant memories," Aoko replied in a relaxed tone.

"But if you insist, I could make him commit suicide right now if you like."

The wind rushing past as the motorcycle sped down the road made their hair a bit disheveled. Alice reached up to smooth her hair but didn't immediately respond to Aoko's comment.

"…Do as you please," Alice finally said.

"But when you cause trouble, don't drag my name into it."

Hearing Alice's response, Aoko, still wearing her helmet, smiled like she'd just heard something amusing.

"Let's go grab a drink at Dawn, Alice," Aoko suggested.

"You've discovered something, haven't you?"

"Yes," Alice admitted.

"I'll explain it in detail later."

...

Inside the café, Aoko and Alice each sipped their freshly served coffee. Alice took a small sip of her espresso, savoring the rich flavor provided by the thick crema, followed by the slight bitterness of the extract. She looked up at Aoko, who continued to spoon sugar into her caramel macchiato and couldn't help but wonder if this girl would end up with a sugar-related illness.

"You like sweet things, don't you?"

Alice couldn't resist commenting.

"Are you a child?"

"Life is bitter, so I like sweet things."

Quoting borrowed wisdom, Aoko took a big gulp of her coffee and hummed happily.

"I found a trap," Alice said, placing her cup back on the table.

"It looks like it's meant to lure us in."

"Huh?"

Aoko's face showed surprise.

"What kind of trap? Has Touko lost her mind? Does she think she can fool us with something like that?"

"Kistynd," Alice said, naming an English word.

"Have you heard of it?"

"Ah, I know it," Aoko said, taking another sip of her coffee, and recalling the name.

"That's the amusement park that went bankrupt and shut down a few years ago, right?"

"That's right," Alice nodded.

"That's the place."

"You're saying Touko set a trap there?"

Aoko asked, confused. In her past life memories, as long as she and Alice didn't fall out over Shizuki Soujuurou, there was no reason to go to that place.

"What's so special about it? I don't remember any leyline nodes or anything like that being there."

The table where Alice and Aoko sat was surrounded by a subtle magecraft bounded field, ensuring that none of their conversation about magical would be overheard by ordinary customers.

"…That place was my testing ground," Alice explained.

"I had previously set up one of the exits for The Mirror of Slumber there, as well as a Ploy to guard the mirror. But now, both have been hijacked by Touko."

Aoko understood why Alice considered the abandoned amusement park valuable. Alice's fairy-tale magecraft was based on fairy tales from the early Industrial Revolution era, and Kistynd, a human-made and later abandoned artificial paradise, was a perfect fossilized relic of such tales. Some of Alice's Ploys could operate at two hundred percent efficiency in a place like that.

"It seems like Touko wants to take out my support first," Aoko sighed. "Sorry, Alice, for dragging you into this."

"…It's fine," Alice shook her head, showing no anger.

"It seems Touko has forgotten what I'm capable of. This time, I'll make sure she remembers."