Nighttime, on the streets of Misaki Town.
Aoko was taking a walk after dinner.
Although she returned to Misaki Town every year, in Aoko's opinion, the speed of change in Misaki Town was still quite rapid. Every time she returned, she could find some places that were different from her memory. When she returned two years ago, she almost couldn't find the way to the Kuonji residence.
This was a good thing—at least for Aoko, she was someone who liked new and interesting things. Otherwise, she wouldn't have traveled around the world. If Misaki Town never changed, she wouldn't have the desire to return.
Of course, there was another reason for returning, which was to see the development of the relationship between Alice and Soujuurou.
Seven years ago, seemingly pushed by some bad friends, Soujuurou himself was somewhat confused when he confessed his love to Alice on Christmas night. Due to Aoko's departure, almost only Alice and Soujuurou lived together in the house, and their feelings for each other had also begun to grow to some extent.
And because of that forced love confession, their relationship developed in that direction.
However, unfortunately, both sides hardly understood feelings, and could even be said to be a combination of stone and ice sculpture. Seven years passed without any progress at all, making Aoko herself somewhat anxious. Every time she returned, she had to urge them.
"But... Alice and Shizuki are already like that, should I also consider myself?"
Usually, this was something that pubescent teenagers would think about, but Aoko's puberty was completely used for practicing Magecraft and traveling around the world, causing her to only start thinking about this kind of thing at the age of 27.
'But even so, I don't want to look for one at all. Boyfriends or something seem like they would make me very tired, and it doesn't seem like I'd find one that suits my wishes...'
"If only it were like in novels and manga, where you could find one by the roadside."
Even a fool would know that this was impossible. If it really happened, then Aoko would be better off using that luck to buy lottery tickets or explore ruins for treasure.
So she just grumbled.
*WHOOSH!*
However, just as Aoko thought so, a blue shooting star suddenly streaked across the dark night sky.
No, it wasn't a shooting star, but rather a trail of Mana being dragged. Because Aoko herself often saw this phenomenon, she was very familiar with it.
The light rose from the roof on the left, curved, and then landed on the roof on the right.
'This situation... is almost the same as me?'
Strengthening the body with Magecraft, and then using physical abilities beyond human limits to move at high speed.
Aoko herself often did this, but apart from herself, this was the first time she had seen someone else do it.
Seems interesting?
Aoko's playful instincts were immediately aroused. She immediately disappeared into the small alley beside her, skillfully strengthened her body, then stepped on the wall several times and arrived on the roof, and then—
*BUM!*
Along with the vibration of the atmosphere, Aoko's body, instantly enveloped in a faint light, shot out chasing after the shooting star!
A second shooting star streaked very quickly across the night sky of Misaki Town!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Master is really going too far, telling me to meet her in ten minutes."
The shooting star—Naoki, while moving quickly across the rooftops, began to complain.
"Does she know how far the airport is from here? Coming straight here from the suburbs, if it weren't for my pretty fast running speed, I definitely wouldn't have made it in time."
A few minutes ago, Naoki, who had just gotten off the plane, received a call from Touko, telling him to come to Misaki Town within ten minutes to meet her, and then "collect the debt" from Aoko. Because she could finally get revenge, Touko's voice sounded somewhat excited.
And in Naoki's arms, Gray, while pressing down on her hat to withstand the wind, laughed, "I think Miss Touko knows Big Brother's running speed, that's why she asked for that. She's been carried by Big Brother like this before too."
[Alias knows very well the little one's abilities, I told you, little one, why not go even faster to surprise her?]
"Think about Gray too, Add."
If it were just Naoki himself, he would definitely have sped off at full speed. There was no need to just jump over one roof at a time like now. Jumping over two or three roofs wouldn't be a problem, right? Especially since this was still the result of him not using Reinforcement Magecraft seriously.
[Ah, little one, there's a strange situation]
"Hmm? What situation?"
[Someone is following us]
Add's report made Naoki unable to help but be stunned—someone was following him? Following him at this speed?
"Magus?"
[No, quite surprising, that person's feeling is the same type as the little one]
The same type?
Naoki roughly knew who Add meant, but if it was her, then he was really quite surprised. Why did she return at a time like this?
"Aozaki Aoko."
*CREAK!*
Braking suddenly, after dragging two lines on the roof, he stopped at the edge of the roof. Naoki looked back. Just as Add said, a shadow that was almost exactly the same as him earlier was chasing not far behind.
And seeing Naoki stop, Aoko also immediately stopped her pursuit.
"Eh? Why did you stop? Not continuing? Is your Mana used up?"
Aoko, who had stopped, asked with a little doubt.
"It's not like that, I could run for another two or three days and still have more than enough. It's just that this is the first time I've seen someone as reckless as me, so I'm a bit curious about who you actually are." Naoki laughed, "But this is really surprising, I didn't expect it to be the famous Miss Blue."
"Ah? You know me?"
"As long as you're a Magus, you shouldn't not know Miss in the Magus world. Miss is a celebrity famous everywhere."
"Is that so? I think that's a bad name. After all, every Magus I've met before looked at me like they wanted to grow four legs to run away." Aoko said with a laugh, "Oh yeah, I haven't asked your name yet. It's rare to meet a Magus similar to me, want to get acquainted? I'm as you know, Aozaki Aoko, just call me Aozaki."
"Natsukawa Naoki." Naoki replied.
"Can I change how I call you? If it's by your surname, it will remind me of my Master."
"Master? Does your Master have something to do with my surname?"
"More precisely, her surname is the same."
The same surname?
Aoko's face immediately darkened, "Wait a minute, then your Master wouldn't be—"
"Yes, she is your older sister, Aozaki Touko."