[26]

As Kuonji Alice sat in her room reading, she suddenly heard a faint "tap-tap" sound coming from outside the window. She closed her book and looked out. A small blue bird was lightly pecking at the glass with its beak. Alice walked to the window, opened it, and let the bird fly into the room. The bird chirped and fluttered around Alice before landing on a piece of furniture, tilting its head as it observed her.

Raising her wrist, as though granting someone permission to kiss her hand, Alice allowed the blue bird to perch on her fingertip. The blue robin puffed out its fluffy chest, proudly communicating with Alice in a language known only to the two of them.

"I see," Alice said, "Aoko has already dealt with the problem, huh."

Despite her seemingly indifferent demeanor, Kuonji Alice had sent the Robin without Aoko Aozaki's knowledge. Perhaps even Alice herself hadn't realized that upon learning Aoko had successfully driven away the enemy and repaired the leyline node, her expression softened just a little.

The Robin looked at its owner in confusion, uncertain of what she was thinking, and then flew off on its own. Click, click—the sound of a key turning in the door echoed from downstairs. Alice estimated the time; it seemed Aoko had returned. She placed her book aside, stood up, and headed downstairs.

"I'm back~"

Aoko called out as she unlocked the door to Kuonji Mansion with her key, switching into her fluffy indoor slippers. Alice wasn't on the first floor. Aoko blinked, noticing her housemate's absence. She hung up her jacket and motorcycle helmet, rubbed her hands together, and walked toward the living room on the first floor.

"Did you take care of everything?"

A cool, clear voice came from the direction of the stairs. Aoko looked up and saw Alice had been upstairs all along.

"Yep," Aoko replied with a cheerful smile.

"Touko sent a whole batch of dolls to ambush me this time."

"What about the bounded field stone at the leyline node?"

Alice asked, sitting down on the sofa and picking up a cup of tea.

"I replaced it with a new one and repaired the bounded field," Aoko said, leaning back on the sofa.

"But I have a feeling Touko might be running out of money. The dolls she sent this time were much more poorly made compared to the ones you encountered before. She even swapped out the core gems for cheaper alternatives."

Alice didn't respond; she was, after all, in the always-out-of-money camp herself. If it weren't for her housemate Aoko taking care of meals, her dining standards would have probably dropped by now, let alone being able to enjoy fine tea and continue her magical research. Speaking of which, why was Aoko so good at making money? After all, she and Touko came from the same family, didn't they?

"Touko probably won't challenge me directly until she's fully prepared," Aoko mused.

"Even though we haven't seen each other in two years, she still knows part of my previous abilities since we trained together under our grandfather for a long time, right?"

"Then solve the problem quickly," Alice said, closing her eyes.

"It's not good that your sibling conflict keeps dragging me into it."

"Alice, you're our dear friend~"

Aoko said playfully, scooting closer and wrapping her right arm around Alice's slender shoulders.

"Since it's a conflict between sisters, naturally, you, as a friend to both of us, should help out, right?"

Alice gave Aoko's hand a disdainful look but didn't push it away.

"If you want my help, it'll come at a price," Alice said in a haughty tone. "And my prices aren't low."

"I get it, I get it!"

Aoko quickly replied.

"What sweets do you like recently? I'll make them for you myself!"

"Don't think you can get away with just some sweets!"

Alice retorted, her face flushing slightly.

"...We're out of scones recently."

"Sweet ones? Or savory?"

"...Sweet."

Although Aoko was confident she could take on Touko and her dog head-on, there was a saying: "A lion uses all its strength even when hunting a rabbit." To quickly and thoroughly crush her older sister's pride, only then would Touko truly give up and return to the Aozaki family.

Based on her past life memories, Aoko knew that around this time, Touko would likely set up a workshop at the old school building. However, Aoko decided to let Touko complete most of her preparations before confronting her. This time, Aoko intended to seize full control of the conflict. She would wait until Touko was nearly finished with her preparations—smug and ready to strike—and then launch a sudden attack, shattering her pride head-on.

How delightful it would be to see Touko's ego come crashing down in front of her! As Aoko indulged in these thoughts, she busied herself making scrolls with precious materials. In a Mage's arsenal, a stockpile of scrolls is crucial. When spell slots are limited, stocking up on scrolls is the best solution.

Against Lugh Beowulf, that filthy dog with a materialized soul, defeating it usually wasn't possible with just one or two spells. While Aoko could use the Fifth Magic defensively like Uchiha Obito's Kamui, to truly defeat this dog, she needed a reliable stock of spells unaffected by the resurgence of Age of Gods magic.

After all, she was quite looking forward to the experience points this dead dog might provide her. Aoko could almost see the Archmage title beckoning her.

...

Maybe Touko was rattled by Aoko's sudden ambush at the leyline node, or maybe she felt she had done enough. For the week following that battle, Touko didn't stir up any major trouble in Misaki Town. Aoko had sent Stark out to patrol, and while he occasionally encountered some of Touko's scouting familiars, Stark—who could share Alice's magical abilities—easily dealt with them. Neither Touko herself nor Lugh Beowulf made an appearance.

After two days of casually preparing scrolls, Aoko returned to Misaki High School to resume her classes. Her classmates were used to the student council president's occasional disappearances, so they didn't gossip about her behavior. Judging by the results of the recent midterms, Aozaki Aoko still held her position as the top student in the school, with a gap so vast between her and the second-place student that no staff member dared criticize her.

On Thursday afternoon, Aoko made a rare appearance in the student council office. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Soujuurou Shizuki diligently cleaning the large office under Kumanari's direction. Tsukiji, despite the heavy dark circles under his eyes, was also hard at work processing student council paperwork.