Knock, knock.
The crisp sound of knocking, amplified by magic, echoed through the living room, causing the girl, whose attention had been focused on the pages of a book, to frown her delicate brows, wondering who could be disturbing her at this hour.
Ignoring the chirping of the blue robin on the tea table, the girl stood up from the deep green sofa. With the curtains drawn, leaving only a slight gap for sunlight to seep in, the already spacious mansion took on a sowhat dim and gloomy air.
And the girl, dressed in a pure black nun-style uniform, her fair skin as if it had never seen the sun, her slender waist nipped in, a long black skirt flowing smoothly to reveal the outline of her slender legs, lightly stepping in a pair of high-heeled leather boots, her jet-black hair falling to her shoulders without a single stray color, looked even more like a secluded ghost within the mansion.
Slender and silent, as if she did not belong to the mortal world.
However, after the girl walked to the entrance and opened the door, the quiet atmosphere in the mansion instantly vanished.
"Ah, I told you so! I saw you were ho a couple of days ago on a weekday, so you're definitely here today. But, don't you have to go to school, Aoko?"
Outside the entrance, Aozaki Touko looked at the girl who had opened the door with a surprised and happy face, then showed a slightly puzzled expression.
"Because the school building at Reien is under renovation, everyone has been sent ho to study on their own for the ti being. What can I do for you, Miss Touko?"
Unlike Aoko's disdain, when dealing with Aozaki Touko, the girl nad Kuonji Alice spoke with a subtle respect. But perhaps due to her nature, her exquisite, doll-like pretty face did not show much emotion, and even her voice had a hint of coldness.
"It's not , it's Rin who ca to see you. I'm just the escort," Touko said with a playful expression, moving aside to reveal the boy she had been deliberately hiding. She chuckled lightly, as if to say, "Here's the surprise."
As if a little surprised by the reason for the woman's visit, and looking at the boy she hadn't seen for a while, Alice subconsciously blinked, but her expression imdiately returned to its original coldness.
"Long ti no see, Sister Alice. This is a gift Sister Yui asked to bring." Rin Aosaki handed over a wrapped box of black tea, a smile on his small face.
But after accepting the tea box, the girl just gave a light "Mhm."
"Er, well, I'll be going then... I'll leave Rin here with you. Touko should co to pick him up around evening." Feeling that the girl's reaction was a bit different from what she had imagined, Aozaki Touko scratched her face a little awkwardly, shifted her feet, and after saying goodbye to the boy again, she quickly left.
Near the entrance, as if sensing the strange atmosphere, Rin Aosaki did not rashly step into the mansion, because he knew that the girl before him did not like others entering the house without permission. But just as he was hesitating to speak, Alice's voice, with a hint of coolness, sounded again.
"Co in."
"Mhm, thank you, Sister Alice."
Following the back of the petite girl in front, he walked towards the living room. Although the girl was usually this silent, he always felt that her mood was a bit subtle. Thus, after a mont of hesitation on his small face, the boy still spoke cautiously, "Are you... angry, Sister Alice?"
"I'm not."
"Is it because I forgot to visit during this ti?"
"...No. It's only been two weeks. I don't mind."
Hearing this, he instantly understood the problem, and an apologetic look appeared on his face. He didn't make any excuses for himself and apologized frankly. "...I'm sorry, Sister Alice."
"Mhm."
Neither questioning nor blaming, the girl's voice was still as cold as before, but the coldness in it was much less than before.
It took more than half a minute to return to the living room. Looking at the boy who was still concerned about her previous words, his small face filled with guilt, Alice pursed her lips. The initial trace of annoyance in her heart gradually faded, and she said softly, "Sit down first. I'll go make tea."
"Thank you, Sister Alice."
Knowing that the girl had probably forgiven him, he obediently sat on the sofa. And at this ti, the blue robin that had been hopping around near the tea table also gently flapped its wings and flew onto the boy's head.
"Long ti no see, Robin. But have you gotten a little heavier?" Feeling that the weight of the little bird on his head was slightly different from before, he blinked with so confusion.
"This stupid bird, despite being a familiar, has learned the bad habit of being greedy, which is why its weight has increased. If this continues, it will be unable to fly one day."
Waiting for the water to boil, Alice stood at the kitchen door, her cold gaze towards the robin holding a hint of disdain. "And don't always stay on Rin's head. Go play sowhere else, Robin."
The robin chirped a few tis as if refuting her previous statent, or protesting her command. But facing its master's increasingly cold gaze, and considering its own safety as a familiar, Robin finally flapped its wings and reluctantly left the boy's head, landing on the handrail of a nearby corridor.
And just then, the water had boiled. Alice turned back to the kitchen, opened the newly acquired tea box, skillfully brewed a pot of black tea, and then ca to the living room.
Placing a cup of moderately sweet black tea gently in front of the boy, she didn't say anything, but just sat down opposite him. The two of them silently enjoyed the black tea in their cups. During this ti, Alice only glanced with so interest at the glasses the boy was wearing.
"These are a Mystic Code Sister Touko made for ."
Sensing the slight confusion in her gaze, he answered softly. And Alice, as if she already knew the rest, did not continue to ask, but just nodded lightly. This strange tacit understanding might be incomprehensible to an outsider, but it was also proof of the peaceful tis the two had enjoyed together in the past.
"...Is there anything else you wanted to ask of , Rin?"
Seeing that the boy seed to have sothing on his mind, Alice raised her eyelids. Her pair of beautiful eyes, as silent as the night under her long lashes, hidden behind the steam of the tea, were tinged with a bit of confusion.
"It's nothing special. I just heard from Sister Touko that Sister Alice has a lot of books about myths and legends, like King Arthur, so I wanted to borrow so."
He was stunned for a mont, not expecting that she could see through this. But he didn't hide it and told her the truth frankly. "Myths and legends?"
Not understanding why he was suddenly interested in this, she had read him so fairy tales before, but Alice didn't think too much about it. She frowned slightly, and after finishing the cup of black tea before her, she stood up and said, "Those books should be in the library on the second floor. Co with ."
He nodded and followed her. But Alice, who was walking in front, couldn't help but stop at the staircase and turn to look at him. Although she guessed that the glasses he was wearing probably had so kind of function that could reproduce vision, just in case, she still gently took his small hand.
"Stay close. Watch your step and don't fall."
"Okay."
Feeling the warm touch from the boy's palm, which was completely different from her own slightly cool body temperature, Alice stepped onto the staircase at a leisurely pace, leading him to the library.
However, the books on myths and legends, because they hadn't been read for a long ti, and although she would from ti to ti tidy up most of the books, the location of this part of the collection was still a bit remote. Recalling where those books were placed, Alice looked at the top shelf. A bit of frustration appeared on her usually expressionless pretty face, as if she were complaining to herself why she had put these books so high up in the first place.
"Stand on the side and wait a bit. I'll go get the ladder over there."
"It's fine, I can move it, Sister Alice."
Knowing that the girl was a bit weak in terms of physical strength, he followed the outline of the ladder in his vision and soon walked to the side of the A-fra ladder. He lifted it gently and placed it on the side of the bookshelf. It was just that the mont he lifted the ladder, he inexplicably felt that the ladder in his hand was unbelievably light, as if it had no weight at all.
"Is it okay to put it here, Sister Alice?"
Sowhat surprised to see the boy's seemingly overly relaxed action, Alice seed to have been hit a little. After a few seconds, she replied, "...It's fine. I'll get so of the books down first. You'd better not stand below. It would be bad if a book accidentally fell."
Making the boy stand obediently on the side, Alice carefully climbed up the ladder. Her long, slender, fair fingers gently brushed over the spines of a few books on the top shelf, and only then did she find the materials related to Celtic mythology and King Arthur.
"Is this all..."
Subconsciously taking out that book, the girl's gaze scanned the other catalogs around. But what she didn't expect was that the mont her hand pulled out this book, a half-index-finger-sized cockroach suddenly drilled out from behind the gap in the bookshelf, in a posture of about to spread its wings and fly.
"Cockroach..."
Even the unperturbed witch, at this mont, her pretty face stiffened, and she unconsciously spat out a certain taboo word. Alice instinctively retreated, wanting to avoid the "demon" before her. But she forgot that there was no cover behind her, only a piece of air.
As expected, the girl's body imdiately lost its balance. And because her reaction was too big, even the ladder under her feet began to tilt, at the sa ti knocking down a few books on the middle shelf. Before she could recover from the fear of facing the cockroach and the daze of her own fall, before her consciousness returned, she felt her body seed to have been caught by sothing, followed by a few rolls, and then she felt the coldness of the floor.
"Are you hurt, Sister Alice?"
Looking at Rin Aosaki, who had protected her from being hit by the falling ladder and books, his small face's glasses having fallen off sowhere from the roll just now, his tone filled with concern. Alice blinked, stared at the boy's face, was stunned for a mont, then subconsciously looked away slightly and replied in a low voice, "No..."
But imdiately, as if she had rembered sothing, her pretty face took on a sowhat serious look. "Rin, there is a very dangerous 'demon' in this room. We must leave imdiately."
"Eh?"
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