The next morning, Mahiro stepped out of his bedroom.
As soon as he entered the living room, he saw Sakurai Minami—the watcher sent by Maya—wearing a black maid dress and a pure white apron, busily working in the kitchen.
The square dining table in the hall was already laden with a full breakfast spread.
The spread was incredibly lavish—Western, Chinese, and Japanese dishes were all present, even to the point of seeing a bowl of miso soup placed beside a fried egg.
Next to the stead dumplings was a plate of freshly toasted bread.
"Ah, good morning, Mahiro-sama! Please wait just a little longer. The final tamagoyaki will be ready soon."
The little chef, Minami, peeked out from the kitchen with half her head visible.
Mahiro: "..."
Rather than a watcher, Minami felt more like a maid who had co to take care of his daily life.
Thinking this, he picked up a glass of juice and took a sip.
Hmm, freshly squeezed, as expected.
A short while later, Minami erged from the kitchen carrying a steaming plate of golden tamagoyaki, which she placed before him.
"Mahiro-sama, breakfast is ready."
Minami spoke respectfully.
But the quantity was...
The girl noticed this as well and explained sowhat sheepishly, "Since I wasn't entirely sure of your dining preferences, Mahiro-sama, I prepared a variety of breakfast styles..."
"Ah, you don't have to finish everything, Mahiro-sama. Just pick what you like, and I'll take notes for future improvents."
Hearing this, Mahiro didn't feel the urge to comnt.
Instead, he casually picked up a stead dumpling and popped it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
"Minami, I didn't expect you to learn so much in just a few months."
"N-no, it's really nothing impressive..." Minami replied bashfully.
This wasn't their first eting—they were old acquaintances.
After all, both of them were magicians modified by the Yotsuba family and had t before at the Fourth Research Institute.
However, unlike Minami, his movents within the institute had been heavily restricted, so he had only seen her a handful of tis.
He still rembered their first encounter—she had been an adorable little girl back then.
Now, in what felt like the blink of an eye, she had grown into a graceful young woman.
Ti truly waits for no one...
And right now, he hadn't yet decided how to handle things with Minami.
At the very least, he needed to find ti to take her to visit the Shiba household next door. He was quite looking forward to seeing Miyuki's expression when she t Minami.
But before that, there were still so matters he needed to address.
"Minami, the Nine Schools Competition will be starting soon. As a representative of First High, I'll be away from ho for about ten days. What are your plans during that ti?"
"Yes, Mahiro-sama. I've already heard about this from the family head. While you're away, I'll stay at ho and do my utmost to take care of everything. Please don't worry."
"I see..."
Mahiro lowered his eyelids slightly, as if deep in thought.
Minami's response was very formal, which irked him a little.
"Actually, you don't have to obey that old woman's orders here. Do whatever you want. If staying at ho feels boring, you can go watch the Nine Schools Competition in person."
"Eh? Mahiro-sama, are you serious? Can I really do that?"
"Of course. If anyone gives you trouble over it, tell them to co straight to ." Mahiro gave her another dose of reassurance.
Minami stared at him in stunned silence.
Though they both ca from the Fourth Research Institute, her actual impressions of Mahiro were few and far between.
Aside from the various outrageous rumors circulating about the laboratory itself, the Mashiba family responsible for managing Izu Island had been instilling in her the fixed impression that Yotsuba Mahiro, the adjusted magician, was terrifying.
But now, it didn't seem to be the case at all.
He appeared much more aligned with the gentle personality described by the family head...
Of course, Mahiro had no idea what Minami was thinking internally. After finishing breakfast, he headed straight to school.
Even though final exams had ended so ti ago and sumr vacation was approaching, the students remained highly enthusiastic.
They were preparing for the annual Nine Schools Competition.
Although the participant list had been finalized earlier, that didn't stop them from observing the competitors' training sessions.
Only Mahiro was an exception. Unlike those who stayed too long under the sun, he chose to hole up in the library.
He had arranged to have lunch with Sayaka.
However, when he arrived at the library's private reading area, he unexpectedly ran into Mayumi!
Though "ran into" might not be the right term.
The student council should have been swamped with work at this ti, given all the preparations needed for the Nine Schools Competition.
Moreover, Mayumi seed to have been waiting for him for quite a while.
As soon as she spotted him, she imdiately pulled him into an empty private room without explanation, saying she had sothing to discuss.
The narrow, rectangular single-person reading room would beco cramped with three people, and even two was a tight fit.
Even though Mayumi-senpai was petite even among girls, and Mahiro himself wasn't particularly bulky, sitting together on that single chair was still quite crowded.
Their bodies were pressed shoulder-to-shoulder as if glued together, leaving no gap between them.
So much so that he could clearly feel the unique warmth and faint, elegant fragrance of the girl beside him.
"Mayumi-senpai, you dragged here—is there sothing important you wanted to discuss?" Mahiro remained composed.
Mayumi was much the sa, showing neither wariness nor shyness, still as poised as ever.
Only the faint pink tinge on the tips of her ears betrayed her, though from Mahiro's angle, it was impossible to see.
"Mahiro-kun, I do have sothing very important! I hope you'll join this year's Nine Schools Competition as part of the Magic Technician team!"
"?"
Mayumi's invitation was delivered with complete seriousness.
As she shifted to face him, the rustling of their clothes rubbing together created an oddly intimate sound.
Hearing such words in this kind of environnt, even soone as unflappable as Mahiro couldn't help but ntally conjure a few question marks.
Are you serious?
You ca all the way to the library to ambush just to invite to be a Magic Technician? And in such an ambiguous setting and manner?
If he didn't know Mayumi was a proper person, he might have suspected this was so kind of honey trap and called the police.
But right now, he didn't have the energy to dwell on it.
So he cut straight to the point:
"Can you tell why it has to be ?"
Honestly, the job of a Magic Technician was to assist Nine Schools Competition participants with CAD adjustnts.
For that kind of work, Tatsuya would be the most suitable candidate.
There was no reason it should fall to him...
"Actually, about that... it was Tatsuya-kun who recomnded you."
"?"
Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard you right!
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