[Prologue]

It was a clear night without a cloud in sight. An elderly man, well into his twilight years, stood on the balcony of a Western-style mansion's top floor, gazing out at the star-filled night sky. Normally, unless captured through long-exposure photography, it would be impossible to see such a spectacular display of twinkling starlight. But in the eyes of this old man, not even the faintest star escaped his gaze.

A blue-green shooting star appeared from the direction of Spica in the constellation Virgo, streaking across the night sky, emitting a brilliance that, to Magician, would seem exceptionally radiant. The meteor grew brighter and brighter, though ordinary people remained unaware. The old man watched it silently, his cloak flapping in the night wind. If the meteor continued on its current trajectory, it would surely land in this small town.

If it were a disaster, he would eliminate it, the old man thought. After all, he didn't want the island nation he lived in to become a disaster. He was too old to be running around cleaning up messes like that stone-playing guy. How ironic, he mused to himself. Magicians are supposed to be enemies of the world, yet here he was, tasked with protecting it.

The meteor drew closer, and its blue-green light intensified. The once unassuming, tall old man now exuded an entirely different aura. No, rather than an old man, it was more fitting to say he had reverted to the form of a young man. His once-white hair had turned blood red, radiating a dazzling glow.

The environment around the young man twisted under the overwhelming power of his magic. Even the flowers and plants in the garden below were growing, blooming, and withering at impossible speeds. If someone were to see the sky from his perspective, they would witness day and night rapidly alternating, with fragments of time shifting in an impossible sequence and speed.

Yet, the blue-green meteor maintained its original trajectory and speed, heading toward the town, while the young man's aura reached its peak. Just as the meteor was on the verge of impacting the town, its light began to rapidly fade, eventually vanishing without a trace.

The young man raised an eyebrow, waiting for a moment, but no further unusual phenomena appeared. His hair returned to white, his skin grew loose, and wrinkles crept over his face like spreading roots. The old man cast one final glance at the now-tranquil night sky, then turned and descended the stairs, intending to return to his workshop and resume his work. But a sudden, piercing ring of the telephone echoed through the quiet mansion.

The old man frowned, walked over to the phone, and picked up the receiver.

"It's me," he said coldly.

"What is it?"

"...Father," a somewhat timid, middle-aged man's voice came through the receiver.

"The second child was born. It's another girl. Would you like to come and see her?"

"...Forget it," the old man hesitated before responding.

"It'd be a real buzzkill for her to see an old man's face so soon after being born."

"…You're joking," the middle-aged man replied.

"Could you at least name her, as you did with her older sister?"

The old man leaned his head back, staring at the patterns on the ceiling as he thought for a moment.

"Father?" the middle-aged man on the phone asked.

"Are you still there?"

"…Let's call her Aoko," the old man said, recalling the radiance of that meteor.

"Aozaki Aoko."

PS: The Ao in Aoko means Blue.