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Haru teleported to the foot of the mountain, his expression grim as he stared at the city before him.
With his understanding of time, Haru was leagues ahead of the old True Magic User.
The old man, by tapping into the Magic Foundation etched into the Root itself, could borrow the power of the rules to evade his grasp.
It was infuriating.
Helpless, Haru had sealed the space-time around the cave, effectively trapping the old magus in a cage, and had left a divine spirit clone to watch over him.
After all, the Aozaki family's incomplete magic had its limits.
The old magus had used the unfortunate soul on his workbench to banish himself into the timeline. Without that unlucky bastard, the old man wouldn't have been able to escape.
"You can't hide for long," Haru sneered, glancing back at the cave.
Traversing the timeline was a taboo of the Counter Forces.
The old magus could only linger in the past or future for a short while. He was a being of the 'present,' and he would have to return to the normal timeline eventually.
And when he did, he would be at Haru's mercy.
"Well, I guess I'll have to go bother Aoko Aozaki now," Haru pursed his lips. The old magus naturally knew the most about the seal on the passage to the Root—
—That's why Haru had gone after him first.
Who knew the old man was as skittish as a rabbit, running at the first sign of trouble? Where was the dignity of a True Magic User? Shouldn't he have roared, "Which upstart dares to intrude upon my workshop! Die!" and then engaged him in a spectacular battle of magic?
What was this, retreating without a fight?
Escaping with magic right off the bat?
Well, now he had no choice but to go talk to that half-baked True Magic User, Aoko Aozaki.
"Might as well participate in the Mahoyo while I'm at it. After all, I'm a True Magic User now. And this grand drama… it needs a little spicing up." Haru grinned, striding towards Misaki Town's center.
Though his focus had been on the passage to the Root, Haru hadn't forgotten.
If he didn't give Aoko Aozaki some kind of power-up, the future 'Human Missile Launcher' would likely be killed by the enhanced Touko Aozaki.
And through his contract, Haru knew that Touko Aozaki had already arrived in the city.
———
A thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky, obscuring the bright moonlight and faint starlight, leaving the earth in darkness.
A cold winter wind blew through the dark clouds, spreading a bone-chilling cold across the land.
In a park in Misaki Town, an old park lamp illuminated the sandy ground.
At the park entrance, two young women slowly entered, making their way to the center.
"Is this the place?" the girl in the white down jacket asked, her voice calm as she surveyed the dark park forest.
Though her tone and expression were serene, the slight tremor in her legs and the hint of fear in her eyes betrayed her inner turmoil.
Aoko Aozaki.
The current head of the prestigious Aozaki magical family, and the inheritor of the Fifth Magic—Blue.
She was supposed to have lived an average life, but on her sixteenth birthday, her grandfather had dragged her into the cruel world of magic with a single sentence.
"…Hmm, I think it's better if you inherit the Aozaki family's magic after all."
Then, the 'Blue' was passed on to her, and her grandfather, claiming he was at a critical stage of his research and had no time—had promptly dumped the responsibility of teaching her magic onto the eldest daughter of the Kuonji family, a family with close ties to the Aozaki.
And today was the day Aoko Aozaki, her training half-complete, would face her first magical battle—her 'birthday' as a magus.
———
"This is it," the girl beside Aoko said, her voice flat, devoid of emotion. She was a young woman who exuded an aura of mystery.
A long, black dress, like a nun's habit, a black fur shawl draped over her shoulders against the cold. Her bewitching beauty was framed by a cold, impassive expression.
Yet, even with her 'Stay away' aura, her bewitching features were enough to attract countless moths to a flame.
She was Alice Kuonji, the temporary teacher assigned by the Aozaki patriarch to guide Aoko Aozaki in her magical studies.
Though she resented Aoko's intrusion into her peaceful life, it was a command from the old True Magic User who protected the Kuonji family.
So, she had reluctantly accepted Aoko as her housemate and student.
"The feel of the barrier is yours to command. You're lucky. If the enemy is in the right position, you can activate the pre-prepared magical foundation," Alice Kuonji said, her eyes closed, her tone flat.
As the guardian of the ley line, Aoko Aozaki was responsible for expelling any uninvited mages from Misaki Town. And this time, their opponent was an intruder detected by the barrier.
For Aoko's first battle, Alice Kuonji had no intention of interfering, even if Aoko, as a novice, was likely to die.
At least, that's what Alice Kuonji told herself.
"Hmph!" Aoko, her back to Alice, nodded slightly, then grunted.
The pain was from the magical barrier covering the entire park, which was designed to repel ordinary people, being transferred to her.
Though its primary function was to keep people out, the barrier also had detection and perception capabilities.
This was Alice Kuonji's silent support. Though she wouldn't admit it, she had come to consider Aoko a friend, her only friend. And so, subconsciously, she was increasing her chances of victory.
"Good. Besides one intruder, there's no one else," Aoko muttered, her perception now spread throughout the park's barrier.
———
"Pfft—!" Haru, sitting on the park slide, grinned, watching the grim-faced Aoko with amusement.
"She says there's no one here," Haru said, looking up at the young man pinned beneath his foot, struggling to get up.
"Um… can you let me go?" Soujuurou Shizuki asked, a bewildered expression on his face.
He'd just been taking a nap on the park slide, relaxing after a long day of work.
Why had someone suddenly appeared, pinning his chest to the ground, refusing to let him up?
Did city people enjoy stepping on people for fun?
The country boy, Soujuurou Shizuki, was completely baffled.
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