"What is your relationship with Aya Tokoyogi?"
Minamiya Natsuki's steady voice froze Yuuma Tokoyogi in her place. Wearing Avrora's body, she wore the expression of a child caught with unfinished homework.
Why is Minamiya Natsuki here...
"Aren't you concerned about the Prison Barrier?" Yuuma Tokoyogi asked softly, taking a slow step backward and lowering her gaze.
"You mean that magical ritual outside?" Natsuki tilted her head, a faint, inhuman sound of tearing and grinding reaching her ears.
It was the sound of the space around Itogami Island fracturing.
Looking out, the normally stable space over the island was now crisscrossed with countless spiderweb-like fissures.
These cracks stretched rapidly toward the boundless horizon like tendrils searching for something.
"Your companions, the 'Meyer Sisters,' were responsible, correct?" Natsuki let out a small yawn, covering her mouth with a hand. "The ritual is basically resolved. We've also located the 'Meyer Sisters.'"
As her words fell, the spiderweb fissures in space began to close and realign as if erased by a giant eraser.
The space around Itogami Island instantly returned to its former state.
"Aside from a university club on a trip who had the bad luck to get lost when the distorted space trapped them, nothing else happened."
As Natsuki spoke, Yuuma's expression grew increasingly bitter.
Solved so easily...
"Not exactly simple. I had to work overtime with a student last night," Natsuki said, seemingly reading Yuuma's expression.
She yawned again and casually picked up her breakfast. "A spatial distortion ritual on that scale is beyond the capabilities of the 'Meyer Sisters.' They aren't proficient in spatial magic."
She brought the food to her mouth, speaking evenly. "You are the witch who infiltrated Itogami Island besides them, aren't you?"
Yuuma silently bowed her head, her lips pressed tightly together.
After a long moment, she finally nodded.
"...I'm curious. Are you truly not concerned about the Prison Barrier?"
Yuuma met Natsuki's gaze without fear.
"'The Witch of the Void,' Minamiya Natsuki, is the warden, the gate, and the key to the Prison Barrier—that is the contract you forged with a demon."
"No matter what stage the spatial distortion ritual reached, it should have affected the Prison Barrier where your true body resides," she continued. "You're not dealing with that. Do you really not care about it?"
"True body?"
Avrora's hand, reaching for the breakfast, suddenly halted mid-air. She glanced at Natsuki beside her, confused.
The latter continued refueling nonchalantly, a faint smile for some reason playing at the corner of her mouth.
"The Prison Barrier's true location is within Minamiya Natsuki's dreams. So, the her you see now is just..."
Yuuma explained to Avrora with a smile, her gaze flicking toward Natsuki, who was eating breakfast, and then...
She froze in place.
Her pale blue eyes reflected Natsuki's satisfied expression as she savored the food. Her unfinished words seemed to drift from her lips like a ghost.
"...a phantom created by magic."
No. No, that's wrong. Something's off.
Watching Natsuki discuss the food's flavor with Trimmau, Yuuma's eyes widened in utter disbelief.
"A phantom created by magic couldn't possibly taste food."
She muttered, her thoughts chaotic like a herd of startled beasts.
"So, you still haven't answered my question," Natsuki said flatly, giving the stationary Yuuma a glance. "What is your relationship with Aya Tokoyogi?"
"...She is my mother."
"...She has a daughter your age?" Natsuki frowned incredulously.
Aya Tokoyogi was her friend, and also the leader of the criminal organization LCO.
Ten years ago, for instigating the Black Bible incident, she had been confined by Natsuki within the Prison Barrier.
Judging by Yuuma's age and her history of knowing Nagisa and the others since childhood, Aya must have given birth to Yuuma at least sixteen years ago.
"A homunculus? Or a test-tube baby, with signs of accelerated growth," Arcueid said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.
"In any case, not a human who grew up normally."
"...I was born ten years ago, with the appearance of a six-year-old."
If the person before her now was the real Minamiya Natsuki, then everything made sense.
The Prison Barrier wasn't in her dreams at all. She had no need to carefully guard her true body.
The intelligence was completely wrong.
Yuuma let out a silent sigh. An ancient-looking book slowly materialized in her hands.
"A grimoire," Natsuki murmured, her eyes narrowing. The crisp sound of chains echoed in the empty air. "This is the culprit behind the spatial distortion, I presume."
There exists a type of book known as a grimoire.
In the past, these were practical books recording spells, magical rituals, or methods for controlling spirits.
However, in the process of accumulating vast knowledge, books that could themselves beguile others, summon great calamity, and grant readers power beyond human intellect were born.
These are books imbued with power—grimoires.
And LCO was the criminal organization that collected these grimoires, lending them to chosen individuals to sate their own curiosity, acting with utter caprice.
"The plan was for the 'Meyer Sisters' to activate the ritual and tie up the 'Witch of the Void,'" Yuuma said with a faint smile as the grimoire began to emit a dazzling light. "Since they failed, I'm taking it back."
"Still planning to resist?" Arcueid grabbed Avrora and the 'Root' who had been gaming nearby, tossing them lightly toward Trimmau.
"You know, Nagisa would be heartbroken to hear all this."
Hearing this, Yuuma paused, then let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Yeah. Becoming a witch, coming here to find the Prison Barrier... it was all part of the design from the beginning by the mother I've never even met."
"But," she glanced toward a nearby room, "meeting Nagisa and the others wasn't. That was the only choice that was truly my own."
Vast magical power spilled from her body. Magma-dense mana poured into the grimoire, erupting in a flash of light that blotted out all vision.
"Avrora, don't worry," Yuuma said gently, as if to comfort the worried girl. "I'll return this body to you right away. So please, wait just a little."
The next instant, a terrifying blast of pressure and an earth-shaking roar assaulted their senses.
A massive structure isolated in a different dimension violently collided with normal space, unleashing a cacophony like a meteor strike.
The scenery before Arcueid's eyes suddenly wavered like a mirage. The empty air rippled with distortions spreading like waves across water.
A moment later, she found herself on a rooftop.
"Spatial abilities are so convenient," Arcueid said, stretching her arms wide. Her golden hair shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
'I'll handle things here. That side is yours.' — Minamiya Natsuki.
"Just where did you send me?"
During the spatial transfer, Natsuki seemed to have changed her destination.
After reading the message Natsuki sent, Arcueid muttered, turning her face to the side.
Her gem-like crimson eyes looked toward the witch sisters in the distance, her delicate profile outlined against the faint morning light.
"Hope I can haul a certain someone back before Nagisa wakes up."
Watching their wary postures, the golden-haired vampire let out a soft laugh.
"Otherwise, the little sister at home will worry."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.