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The Kuonji Mansion.
It was nestled in the mountainous region of Misaki Town, a sprawling estate shrouded by a dense forest. The locals called it the haunted house, the witch's manor.
And they weren't wrong—it was, in fact, the residence of a witch.
The mansion's current master, Alice Kuonji, was a practitioner of an ancient form of magic, utterly at odds with the modern world. It was called Ploy Kickshaw, the Magic of Fairy Tales, and she was its last, rare practitioner.
On the second floor of the villa, Alice Kuonji and Aoko Aozaki sat across a table from each other.
Aoko, having just finished her bath, was toweling her brown hair, patting away the last droplets of water as she spoke. "Well? What's the verdict, Alice?"
"...Nothing. Not a single trace," Alice replied, her lips barely moving, her voice devoid of emotion.
"The barrier didn't even pick up a presence?" Aoko stopped, her expression turning serious.
Before their fight with the puppet, Alice had transformed the entire park into her personal 'forest'—a Bounded Field woven from Fairy Tale Magic. In theory, anyone present should have been instantly detected.
"It seems... the barrier never registered anyone's presence from the start." Alice raised a slender arm, tapping a finger against her lips, her expression a mask of adorable contemplation.
"Well, in that case, the feeling of being watched must have just been our imagination," Aoko said, her posture relaxing as she resumed drying her hair, brushing the incident off casually.
"Hmm, there is one other possibility. That our intruder's skill in magecraft surpasses my own." Though her voice held no sense of urgency, the gravity in her black, pearl-like eyes told a different story.
"...You've got to be kidding me." Aoko's face froze.
As a rare witch, even at sixteen, Alice's magical prowess was said to be second only to a True Magic User. On top of that, as the last living Fairy Tale witch, the mystery and power of her magecraft were at the absolute pinnacle of human achievement.
If someone's skill surpassed Alice's, it could only be one of the ancient monsters who had lived for millennia... or one of the legendary True Magic Users.
The thought of an intruder of that caliber in the ley line she was supposed to be managing made Aoko's heart sink.
"Could my luck be any worse? An old monster or one of my own kind?" Aoko flopped onto the sofa in a spread-eagle, her expression ashen.
Though she was a True Magic User, Aoko was keenly aware of her own half-baked status.
She knew she stood no chance against a magus or True Magic User of that level.
"Hmm? The gaze might have just been an illusion after all," Alice said, tilting her head, her expression calm.
"See? I told you it was just our imagination. We didn't see anyone, just some trampled grass. Probably left over from some kids playing this afternoon."
Hearing this, Aoko immediately sprang to her feet and headed for the door, kneading her shoulder. "I'm heading to bed. That fight really wore me out."
Watching Aoko's retreating back, Alice's eyes flickered. "I hope it was just an illusion," she murmured, her voice a low whisper. "But just in case, I'll increase the surveillance patrols of my familiars."
———
After receiving the call.
Haru teleported from the park slide to a mountain path on a slope in Misaki Town. He admired the town's night view as he strode towards the villa at the peak.
If he'd met Aoko in the park, she likely would have treated him as an intruder. That, and the complaining tone of the person on the phone, had compelled him to come here.
After a few moments, Haru reached the top of the slope and stood before the iron gate surrounding the villa, taking in the scene within.
It was a massive estate, over four thousand square meters. Though nearly three thousand of that was gardens and fountains, the residence itself was still an enormous thousand-square-meter mansion.
Including the surrounding forest and river, the total area probably exceeded thirty thousand square meters. Even though Misaki Town was just on the outskirts of the Tokyo metropolitan area, land prices were still astronomical, upwards of 800,000 yen per square meter.
And yet, this ridiculously expensive estate was registered in Haru's name, though this was his first time ever seeing it.
Haru took a single step forward and, in the next instant, crossed the five-hundred-meter distance, appearing at the villa's main entrance...
He slowly raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong—! Ding-dong—!
Though the villa was built with soundproof materials, Haru's sensitive ears still picked up the sound of hurried footsteps.
The door was flung open.
The next second, a soft, delicate body leaped into Haru's arms, slender arms wrapping around his neck, followed by moist lips pressing against his own.
A smirk played on Haru's lips as a fierce battle of tongues ensued.
"Honestly, Kohaku, you're too fast." A gentle, slightly dissatisfied female voice sounded. In Haru's line of sight, a young woman with silky black hair, dressed in a light blue dress, exuding an air of noble elegance, descended the main staircase.
Haru tilted his head back slightly, ruffling the pink hair of the girl in his arms, who was now grumbling with dissatisfaction. "Good evening, Akiha."
Hearing Haru's voice, Tohno Akiha's face flushed slightly. She looked at Kohaku in his arms with a hint of envy, then gracefully lifted the hem of her dress and curtsied.
"Good evening, Father."
"...Couldn't you have come out a little later, Akiha? You interrupted my precious lovey-dovey time with Papa~" Kohaku, her arms still wrapped around Haru's neck, turned her head slightly, her somewhat childish face filled with annoyance.
"You tricked me into preparing Papa's late-night snack just so you could sneak a bite, didn't you, Sis?" A voice thick with resentment came from the stairs.
A pink-haired girl in a black nun's habit, wearing a cooking apron, her face a thunderous scowl, slowly descended the stairs.
Haru, internally marveling at the success of his Genji Project, tightened his hold on Kohaku and chuckled at Akiha. "Was there something urgent you needed to call Papa over for?"
Akiha raised an eyebrow, the warm, spring-like smile on her face slowly vanishing. "What else could it be?" she said, her tone full of complaint. "The parent-teacher conference, of course!"
Kohaku, her arms still around Haru's neck, tightened her grip. Haru looked down and saw the girl's petulant face.
"Don't you dare run away!!"
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