Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

　Because Kuonji Aratsu is the last witch in the world who can't keep up with the times, she is destined to be forever barred from "love".

But Aoko is different; she is a human girl who is naturally immune to things like "love".

"What kind of monster do you think I am? Even I have feelings of love!"

Aoko complained loudly, her face flushed.

There's no mistake, that must be it...

"Shirou is both my familiar and my lover—"

In that instant, I sensed a kind of destiny.

Yuzhu coldly said, "To openly declare that a 12-year-old boy is the lover of one's destiny."

"Aoko, in a sense, you're already invincible."

After finally letting out all the thoughts she had been holding in for so long, Aoko was incredibly embarrassed.

Even though it was just her own imagination, she seemed to have already decided that Shirou was "Aoko's" lover and was convinced of it.

She was so ashamed that she quickly changed the subject.

"No, but speaking of which, it seems that your relationship with Shirou has improved quite a bit, Arisu."

Last night he seemed to be thinking, "I'm going to find a way to get rid of him secretly while Aoko is away," but today he doesn't feel that way at all.

The atmosphere seemed pretty good when we had dinner together earlier.

"It's just that I had no choice but to accept it, and..."

"and?"

Yu-chu said, "He assured me that he wouldn't get in my way."

Aoko said, "That's so cold... It's not like you'd lose anything by trying to build a good relationship with them."

The living room fell silent, and neither of them spoke for a while.

"What's wrong, Yuju? Are you in a bad mood?"

Aoko spoke up after noticing Arizu's subtle change in mood.

The girl noticed that the tension she usually felt around her roommate had disappeared, replaced by a sense of dejection.

Yuzhu stared at the mottled floor and spoke up: "It's not that my relationship with that child has improved."

I still don't understand him, just like before. How can I trust someone I don't understand?

"Yeah...so what are you going to do?"

"Because I know you. Your choices are always right, so I want to trust the character of the person you trust."

"..."

Yuju doesn't understand Shirou, nor does she intend to.

However, since Aoko, Ayumi's collaborator, trusts him, Ayumi can also trust him.

Yu-joo said she doesn't trust people she doesn't understand.

Conversely, it can also be interpreted as her wanting to trust someone and to get to know that person deeply.

"Ah, you seem quite serious about what you're saying. So you really trust me that much, Yuju?"

"...Hmm. Whether I like it or not is another matter. I just trust you, that's all."

Just then, Shirou returned to the living room after taking a bath.

　Aoko jumped up from the sofa as if she had been launched into the air, went forward to greet him, and affectionately took the boy's hand.

Upon seeing this, Yuzhu suddenly turned her face and looked out the window.

Although it only lasted a few seconds, she suddenly felt that Aoko was a very happy girl.

At least, she is much happier than Yuju from Kuonji Temple.

……

……

The next encounter with Aozaki Touko took place on an ordinary afternoon.

Although he moved out of the church's attic, Shirou would never forget the kindness of having taken him in when he was homeless.

He told Sister Vikas that although he couldn't guarantee it would be long-term, he would come to the church at least twice a week to help out as long as he remained in Misaki.

Then, when Shirou said this, he was overheard by some random people in the church.

"If you have so much free time, why don't you come and help out here?"

The woman who said this was named Ritsuka Shuse.

On the very night Shirou jumped into this era, a super suspiciously beautiful woman approached him and took him to church.

Compared to her mature and composed younger sister, Sister Yuika, Ritsuka exudes a carefree and irresponsible aura.

It's hard to believe this is the older sister. Does she really work properly? And her figure...

The gap between the two sisters' wealth is even greater than that between the magicians and witches of Misaki Town.

Despite this, she did help Shirou when he was in trouble.

"Is that alright? That's great! Then let's not delay, Ash, come to my house tonight to clean and cook dinner for me!"

Ritsuka Shuse smiled happily, then dragged the boy to her apartment.

It was an ordinary two-story apartment, the kind you'd find anywhere else.

Shirou had heard people say that these kinds of apartments are usually rented by college students who don't have much money.

It seems that not only do nuns live in poverty, but life is also tough for low-level magicians.

That's right, Ritsuka Shuse is actually a magician, and Shirou discovered this the first time he saw her.

However, unlike the inheritor of magic or the last Mainst, Ritsuka Shuse is just a magician who can't even be considered third-rate.

If Shirou hadn't been found by Morgan, his future life would probably have been similar to hers.

"...What's wrong, Ash?"

Ritsuka Shuse turned to look at the boy.

Shirou stood at the apartment door, staring intently at the ground outside with a serious expression.

"If you're going to say this apartment is too shabby and you don't want to come in, I'm going to beat you up, you know?"

"Sister Lawyer".

Shirou narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have you offended someone recently?"

"Huh... what does that mean?"

Ritsuka Shuse blinked: "Speaking of which, I think I've been hearing thieves trying to pick my locks late at night recently."

"Your feeling is right, this house has been set as a trap... It must have been done by the guy you mistook for a thief."

Shirou crouched down and touched the dividing line of the door with his hand.

"What kind of filth is hiding in here? This is..."

Shirou frowned slightly.

It was an extremely clever trap; his mediocre magic was simply no match for it.

"Sister Lijia, is it okay to completely destroy this apartment building?"

"No, of course not! What are you thinking?!"

Ritsuka Shuse said with a mournful expression, "Do you want me to carry a debt that I can never repay in my lifetime?!"

"Ok."

Shirou took a deep breath. Since he couldn't destroy it physically, then—

Accompanied by the dazzling light of the projection magic, a jet-black samurai sword appeared in the boy's hand.

Like the "Blade of Chaos" or the "Aegis of Heaven," this is a weapon that Shirou has possessed from the very beginning.

Its name is "Yamato," the demon sword that separates "humans" from "demons."

It possesses the ability to "separate," not only cutting through space but also creating passages within it; it is said to be the key to opening the gates of hell.

"Huh? A knife? Why did you take out something so dangerous, Ash! I told you not to destroy it~~~"

Amidst Ritsuka Shuse's pitiful screams, Shirou silently drew his sword from its sheath.

"……snort!"

The "Yama Blade" was swung down towards the boundary between the outdoors and the indoors.

"——————"

The apartment floor was cut open.

However, it was not physically cut open, but rather like a zipper being pulled open, with a slit being cut in it.

Then, a black object jumped out from that spacetime rift—

"What is that……"

Ritsuka Shuse let out a muffled sound.

That was a shadow.

Even under the afternoon sun, it was still clearly visible, a completely black shadow with no thickness.

Enraged that his true identity had been revealed, the shadow familiar lunged at Shirou.

—A flash.

The shadow vanished into thin air.

"what?"

Ritsuka Shuse looked stunned.

Shirou swung his sword, imbued with a powerful and mysterious aura, cleaving the shadow monster in two—

This sounds easy to understand, but it's actually a narrative trick.

Because Shirou didn't actually slash at the shadow monster, but instead slashed at the void in another direction.

There was clearly nothing there, yet after Shirou slashed at it, the shadow monster that lunged at him vanished instantly.

No, that direction isn't empty.

Shirou did indeed strike something, something even a magician's eyes couldn't see—

Most likely, invisible or unknowable magic was used, and the thing finally took concrete form after falling to the ground.

It is a familiar modeled after a bird.

The body and wings are made of brass wire, and the eyes are made of rubies.

Inside the familiar, there was a rotating object resembling a miniature film reel, projecting a certain light through the gems in its eyes.

When Shirou cut it in half, the flat, black shadow monster was also destroyed at the same time.

"The shadow monster is just a projected image."

Shirou gazed at the shattered bird-shaped familiar and whispered an explanation: "This is the real thing."

Upon hearing this, Ritsuka Shuse suddenly realized: So that's why Shirou didn't go and kill the shadow directly back then?

Even a magic sword that can slice through space like butter cannot cut through a shadow that is merely reflected in the atmosphere.

No, it should be said that even if it is cut off, as long as the slide projector continues to operate, the shadow can be revived countless times.

That was the trap hidden at the entrance to Ritsuka Shuse's apartment—

The costumes far surpass the standards expected of modern magic.

However, what is even more terrifying than the shadow familiar is Shirou's terrifying insight, which sees through the magician's tricks in an instant.

"Ashi... how did you figure that out?"

A sense of awe settled in Ritsuka Shuse's eyes as he looked at the boy.