My name is Kasumi Saegusa. I'm the second daughter of the Saegusa family, one of the Ten Master Clans. I have an older sister, Mayumi-oneechan, and a twin sister, Izumi. We have two older brothers from a different mother, but putting aside my eldest brother Tomokazu, I honestly don't really know what to say about my second brother, Koujirou. It's not just that I'm not good with him; we rarely see each other, so "I can't say either way" might be the most accurate description.
And then there's my mother, who is currently living separately under the pretext of medical treatment... and my father, the head of the Saegusa family, Kouichi Saegusa. Honestly, ever since Izumi cornered him during her broken engagement incident, my impression of him has been steadily declining.
Izumi's engagement partner was Yugen Kagurazaka, also known as Yu-nii. Back when we first met him, he was still going by the name Yugen Nagano. He had come to a party hosted by the Saegusa family, accompanying a magnificent middle-aged man—who apparently turned out to be Gozo Kamiizumi.
At first, I was a little wary, wondering if he was targeting my sister, but after a brief exchange of greetings with Father and Onee-chan, he just stood by the wall of the venue. This made me tilt my head in confusion. After all, figures from the political and business worlds were attending this party, and Izumi and I had been dragged out to help Father. Since it was an adult-focused party, there weren't many children, but even so, there were places where the kids were mingling and deepening their acquaintances.
Most people would normally try to deepen their ties with Father or Onee-chan, but his demeanor suggested he had "no interest" in such things. It bothered me, so I approached him, only to find he already had a visitor. I was surprised to see that the person talking to Yu-nii was my sister, Izumi, but even more surprising was her expression—she looked exactly like a maiden in love.
You see, Izumi—this sister of mine—has surprisingly high standards for her ideal man. Izumi thinks my lack of wariness is a problem, but frankly, I wonder if she's in any position to talk. I used to worry if she'd ever be able to get married, yet there she was, talking to Yu-nii with a joyous expression she rarely showed even to family. Anyway, the moment I spoke to Yu-nii, Izumi's expression instantly turned grim, and she shot me a piercing glare.
"Kasumi-chan... are you planning to steal my Prince Charming whom I've finally found?"
"No, I just said hello! Why jump to that conclusion!?"
I frantically tried to calm her down, explaining that I simply wondered why Yu-nii wasn't interacting with the other guests and had absolutely no intention of getting in her way. Izumi then smiled and asked, "Then, you will support us, won't you?" I had no choice but to nod immediately. My sister was unusually terrifying, and my reflexive answer was born from an instantaneous realization that my life was in danger.
Because of that incident, Yu-nii and I became something like brother and sister-in-law. In terms of depth of interaction, we were probably closer than I was with my actual brothers. When Onee-chan took a liking to Yu-nii, I found myself sandwiched between Onee-chan and Izumi, feeling like I was experiencing a living hell. I truly think being alive is wonderful.
An engagement was secretly concluded between Yu-nii and Izumi, but it was broken off, directly influenced by Onee-chan's intellectual curiosity and Father's schemes. Initially, only Father and Onee-chan knew that Izumi had been engaged to Yu-nii, and that it had been annulled. But when Izumi found out, she stormed into the study and silenced Father with sheer intimidation.
Yeah, I genuinely thought Father might die that day. After all, Izumi had begun to overwhelm Father—who was once called a "genius magician"—with magic she had only just learned... I guess the power of love for Yu-nii is truly great.
Thanks to Father desperately appeasing her, we avoided the worst, but Izumi's evaluation of Father dropped to "lower than the absolute bottom." Izumi harshly critiqued him as "a human belonging to the lowest category of males in the world." You might ask if I'm not going to defend him, but... hey, I value my life too.
Honestly, I have a firm conviction that the only person who can stop Izumi is Yu-nii. Even removing flattery or familial bias, that fact likely remains unchanged.
Onee-chan muttered in a low voice, "Izumi-chan is becoming steadily more terrifying," but later, when Yu-nii came to the Saegusa house bringing handmade sweets, I was honestly surprised. After all, he was a member of the Mitsuya family, one of the Ten Master Clans. Onee-chan was depressed, but Izumi was in an incredibly good mood.
At that time, Onee-chan was slumped over, muttering, "Yu-kun is a brute..." which made me tilt my head, unable to understand the reason. The cookies were delicious, though. It was to the point where I wondered if Yu-nii's sweets had killed Onee-chan's parents or something.
I was glad to enroll in the same Magic High School as Yu-nii, but Shippou was honestly exhausting.
I had no intention of looking down on the Shippou family—one of the 18 Assistant Master Clans—as a member of the Saegusa family of the Ten Master Clans. However, from their perspective, they seemed to resentfully believe that the Saegusa family, which became the final test subjects of the 7th Laboratory at the former 3rd Laboratory, had "snatched away" the results of the 7th Laboratory members, including the Shippou family. I heard this from Yu-nii after my mock battle with Shippou.
I mean, even if they take that out on me or Izumi, I can only say I'm troubled. That's something the Saegusa members of that time should be blamed for; for us descendants, it can only be described as "misplaced gratitude."
In the end, I lost my temper and caused trouble too. The mock battle with Shippou, proposed as mediation, ended with both of us being disqualified by Tatsuya Shiba-senpai's judgment. At that moment, Senpai's resolute attitude stirred an emotion within me that I had never felt before. It wasn't until after the Nine Schools Competition that I clearly realized it was love.
I told Izumi and Onee-chan, but I absolutely couldn't tell Father... Yet, somehow he sniffed it out. He called me in secretly and asked, "Do you have any intention of getting engaged to Tatsuya Shiba?" It wasn't that I didn't, but someone like Tatsuya-senpai would have many competitors. So, I just answered, "I don't know if it will come true, but I am interested."
In response, Father, sitting opposite me, had a smile on his lips that screamed, "Ah, this is definitely the face of someone plotting something no good." So, I said nothing more and hurriedly returned to my room.
After the thesis competition, I ended up going on a date with Tatsuya-senpai... My romantic circumstances were part of it, but the main reason was to apologize for the trouble Onee-chan had caused. Why did an apology lead to this? Well, the day after Onee-chan returned from Kyoto, we went to apologize and thank Tatsuya-senpai again. Senpai said, "It was incidental to my preliminary investigation, so don't worry about it," but from there, due to various schemes by President Shiba and Kitayama-senpai, it turned into an amusement park date.
At the amusement park, Akechi-senpai ran into trouble related to her family, but Yu-nii, Isori-senpai, and Tomitsuka-senpai joined in and suppressed it easily. afterward, we had a meal with Yu-nii and Isori-senpai, and Tatsuya-senpai asked about how close Yu-nii and I were. When I brought up Izumi as a reference, Senpai seemed convinced.
If you ask me if this was a typical date, honestly, I have no confidence. It's frustrating, but I can't beat Izumi or Onee-chan in romantic experience points.
And then, during New Year's, the Saegusa house had many visitors. Being one of the more social families among the Ten Master Clans, not only Onee-chan but also Izumi and I were dragged out to help. Of course, it wasn't out of genuine interest, but rather "for the sake of associating with Father." amidst all that, Father called us to the living room to discuss a message from the Yotsuba family and a letter from the Kagurazaka family... but I couldn't understand why things turned out the way they did.
January 3rd. The day after the Yotsuba and Kagurazaka families jointly announced the facts, various families sent congratulatory telegrams and engagement applications to the Magic Association's PO box. Amidst this, the Ichijou family sent a letter of inquiry via the Magic Association to the Yotsuba family, not regarding Tatsuya or Yugen, but regarding Miyuki's engagement.
Kouichi Saegusa, the head of the Saegusa family, had been receiving information from the National Defense Force's Intelligence Department, which was under Saegusa influence, in order to gather intelligence on this matter. Among the reports, the Ichijou family's inquiry caught his eye. He was aware that the Ichijou family had applied for Gouki's eldest daughter to be Yugen's fiancée, but Kouichi's interest was piqued more by the circumstances behind sending an inquiry to the Yotsuba family.
(Most likely, it concerns their son, Masaki Ichijou. Considering his personality, he might have considered interfering, but perhaps he was reproached by his wife or daughter.)
It was almost exactly as Kouichi read it. Gouki had tried to support Masaki's love life, but Akane refused to be used as a pretext, and Midori, hearing the circumstances, stopped Gouki. Of course, even Kouichi didn't know exactly what had transpired within the Ichijou household, but within the limited information, he deduced the most optimal explanation.
Two years ago, Yugen had been designated as the next head and acting head of the Guardian Kagurazaka family. Last spring, Kouichi had met with Yugen in his capacity as the acting head of the Kagurazaka family. At that time, Kouichi felt that the boy in front of him did not look like a teenager at all.
Katsuto, the eldest son of the Jyumonji family, also appeared mature with a physique and demeanor beyond his years. However, in Yugen's case, the atmosphere he wore revealed a level of craftiness comparable to elder-class politicians who had reigned in the political world for a long time. That was why Kouichi had once engaged in talks with Yugen without regard for seniority.
Kouichi knew about Tatsuya Shiba, designated by the Yotsuba family; about Miyuki Shiba, announced as the fiancée of the Kagurazaka family head... and about Yugen Kagurazaka, Miyuki's fiancé.
Tatsuya Shiba, who mastered the strongest counter-magic and possessed taijutsu far beyond that of a high school student. Naturally, the details of the magic he used remained unclear, but reports suggested a high probability that he was one half of the pair responsible for the two Strategic-Class magics used in the "Scorched Halloween." Even Kouichi hadn't predicted the information that he was Maya's son.
Miyuki Shiba, who freely wielded "Inferno," "Niflheim," and flight magic—which had only just been announced at the time—two years ago. Not only that, but in last year's Nine Schools Competition, she unveiled completely new magic. Saegusa researchers reported that one of them was a spell modified from the 7th Laboratory's research theme, "Swarm Control," for practical combat use. Regarding Miyuki Shiba, although there was no concrete proof, he had already figured out she was Miya Shiba's daughter.
And Yugen Kagurazaka, formerly the third son of the Mitsuya family, originally suffered from a severe congenital constitution and researchers had stated he might die before reaching the age of ten... or so it was supposed to be.
Starting with Yugen becoming healthy as if overturning the Mitsuya family's future, his brothers and sisters—excluding the eldest, Motoharu—began showing remarkable performance in the Nine Schools Competition one after another. Kouichi was convinced that Yugen Kagurazaka, who did not bear the Mitsuya surname at the time, was the catalyst for this.
This was evident from the fact that when the National Defense Force Intelligence Department attacked him under the guise of "re-education," the Saegusa family suffered the consequences of Gozo Kamiizumi's wrath due to the undeniable sin of overlooking the actions of the National Defense Force unit. As the price for knowing this, not only was the engagement between him and his daughter annulled by the Mitsuya family, but Kouichi was also subjected to silent pressure delivered with a smile from Izumi. Even Kouichi, hailed as a genius, could find no effective means against his daughter's displeasure.
If Tatsuya Shiba and Miyuki Shiba became the core of the Yotsuba... even if the twenty-seven families that make up the Ten Master Clans (excluding Yotsuba) and the 18 Assistant Master Clans banded together... no, considering the Mitsuya family would likely side with the Yotsuba, there was virtually zero confidence that the other twenty-six families could suppress them.
The Mitsuya family had anticipated that the younger siblings would leave the family as the eldest son, Motoharu, engaged and married the adopted daughter of the Watanabe family to proceed with primogeniture succession. However, the second son, Mototsugu, became the son-in-law of the Kamiizumi family and then succeeded as the Kamiizumi head. And the third son, Yugen, was adopted into the Kagurazaka family and succeeded as the Kagurazaka head on New Year's Day of this year.
Gen himself chose to maintain a friendly relationship by keeping a distance, stating, "They are already humans of other families," despite being a relative of two Guardian families. But from Kouichi's perspective, this choice itself was the last thing he wanted.
Kouichi had initially intended to use Yugen to suppress Tatsuya and Miyuki. Although no detailed information came out even via the National Defense Force, he grasped that Yugen had deep ties with the 101st Brigade/Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, just like Tatsuya Shiba, and also knew that Yugen was lodging at the Shiba home.
Just as he was plotting to use this to shake up the Mitsuya and Yotsuba families, Kouichi was stunned when it was revealed at the temporary Master Clans Conference after the Nine Schools Competition that Yugen had left the Ten Master Clans to become the adopted son and next head of the Kagurazaka family. He should have learned his lesson from the Juyama family incident about overlooking the movements of other families while distracted by the Yotsuba, but he failed to see that the Kagurazaka family had beaten him to the punch this time.
And then, as if to deliver the finishing blow, came the engagement announcement of Yugen Kagurazaka and Miyuki Shiba. Viewed directly, since Miyuki would be leaving the Yotsuba family, it might appear to be the development Kouichi desired—one of either Tatsuya or Miyuki leaving the house, and then persuading the Yotsuba family to maintain the domestic power balance. However, from Kouichi's perspective, this was one of the things he feared most.
Originally, since Guardian families strongly value bloodlines, it was within the scope of assumption that the Kamiizumi family would welcome a child of the Mitsuya family—the grandchild generation of the previous head—as a son-in-law for the Kamiizumi granddaughter. However, the Kagurazaka family adopted not a direct descendant or a branch family child, but the grandson of the previous head Senhime's older sister, and then had him succeed as the next head—and then the head. This maneuver surprised not only Kouichi but also Ancient Magic families in various quarters.
This was possible because the Kamiizumi and Kagurazaka families intermarried every few generations, but no one had executed it until now. In most cases, it would cause unrest within the family, and the likelihood of the child being killed was extremely high.
Martial arts skills that Gozo Kamiizumi recognized without reservation; the keen insight of Senhime, the previous Kagurazaka head; the ability to completely shut down Masaki Ichijou, the "Crimson Prince"; and superior magic techniques capable of executing composite spells of Ancient and Modern Magic. It was because all these conditions were met that Yugen could become Senhime's adopted son. And that was tantamount to a notice from the Kagurazaka family stating, "The Twenty-Eight Families have no qualification to control Yugen Mitsuya."
In that sense, Miyuki Shiba's engagement announcement indicated that Senhime acknowledged the power of the Yotsuba family, deeming her worthy of being Yugen Kagurazaka's wife. Furthermore, Tatsuya Shiba, designated as the next Yotsuba head, was in a position where multiple marriages were recommended, just like Yugen Kagurazaka. The fact that the government, not just the magic community, indirectly acknowledged Tatsuya's power meant that the government was interested in the Yotsuba family, including his alias... It was unclear if it went that far, but at the very least, it could be taken as them seeking a friendly relationship.
The Saegusa family currently had Izumi's engagement reinstated, but they had already broken the promise made with Yugen last spring. Although Mayumi seemed to have vaguely sensed something through the incident with Nakura, she hadn't questioned him about it after returning from Kyoto.
Incidentally, they had been unable to trace the steps of Zhou Gongjin, who killed Nakura. They had grasped that Zhou Gongjin was at the National Defense Army's Uji Second Supply Base, but when that base was attacked by a mysterious force the other day, Zhou Gongjin's trail went cold there. It was known that several students from First High and Third High were in Kyoto on the day of the attack, but that could not serve as decisive evidence linking them to the base attack.
(...It is worth testing.)
As long as the engagement had absolutely no issues in terms of family registry or genetics, clumsy interference was impossible. However, if he aligned his steps with the Ichijou family's inquiry, he might gain some kind of result.
Thinking this, Kouichi called his daughters to the living room.
Author's Note:
The nature of a suffering person sandwiched between an older and younger sister.
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