After the two maids lifted their skirts and curtsied, they each called out in unison behind them.
"Miss Diadra."
"Miss Estella."
The figures in purple gowns erged from the shadows.
Ti shattered.
In that mont, all sensation vanished—so completely that even the concept of an "instant" felt aningless.
Shiomi watched the two won with quiet detachnt. He understood perfectly why the hall had fallen completely silent.
Their eyes, gazing down from above, shimred like gemstones from ancient myths; their noses seed sculpted by an artist who had staked their soul on perfection; their lips carried the unaging light of youth, evoking petals from a long-lost paradise.
And yet, even such praise paled before these two.
The Princess of Gold and the Princess of Silver.
Shiomi looked around. So Magus were so stunned they'd forgotten to grip their wine glasses—red wine spilled across their shoes. Others held their breath so tightly they were nearly suffocating. A few had already dropped to their knees in tears.
"So this is their thod of reaching the Root," Shiomi said, casting a glance at Touko beside him.
She took off her glasses.
That was the trigger she had designed to switch between the two personas she created for herself.
Without the glasses, Touko Aozaki beca a Magus cold to the core, stripped of all humanity.
"Iselma does have a deep legacy, but I didn't expect even you, a Grand, to be this shocked," Shiomi said, lips curling slightly.
Looking at the glasses in her hand, Touko turned away, ignoring the self-introductions from Diadra and Estella. "If you put it like that, you seem completely unfazed."
At that, she put her glasses back on. "This isn't a great place to talk. Shall we go sowhere else?"
"After you." Shiomi caught sight of Inorai and realized Touko was deliberately avoiding her.
After exchanging a brief word with Maio, she and Shiomi quietly turned and left the venue, leaving the others still srized by the presence of Diadra and Estella.
...
They arrived at the lake beside the Twin Towers.
The setting sun cast a richer glow over Touko's red hair.
"Iselma went to great lengths to prepare Diadra and Estella, but they didn't impress you at all. If Mr. Byron found out, I bet he'd be heartbroken," Touko said with a chuckle.
"I'm not interested in the Root," Shiomi replied casually—words that amounted to heresy in the world of Magus.
"Then why did you enter the Holy Grail War?" Touko asked again.
"You asked
that five years ago," Shiomi replied, smirking. "What I wanted was the Grail's wish-granting power. Wealth, fa, influence—it's all convenient. Unfortunately, it got corrupted, so I had to play the good guy and clean the Greater Grail."
Touko nodded in understanding. "It's been a few years, but looks like you've picked up another daughter? Don't tell
you've got a thing for adopting little girls."
"Don't be ridiculous," Shiomi clicked his tongue. "I was asked to take care of her. She's about the sa age as my own, so having her live with us is better than keeping her in the Clock Tower's dorms."
He paused, giving her a once-over. "You've settled down too, I see."
"A little later than you," Touko replied.
What Shiomi ant by "settled down" was her current appearance.
Though she'd been a Grand for over a decade, she still looked like a vibrant woman in her early twenties.
Many Magus were skilled at maintaining youth, but that wasn't the case for either of them.
They were fixed.
Not just in appearance, but in presence—in every conceivable way.
Anyone who saw Touko would assu she was in her early twenties. Likewise, anyone who t Shiomi would instinctively take him for a greenhorn barely twenty—or not even that.
Like the noble-aligned Magus earlier, who'd tried to provoke Shiomi at the gathering, assuming he was younger and therefore not worth the effort.
But their fixed points in ti were different, as were the ans.
Shiomi figured Touko had locked her ti around when they'd first t formally—likely due to her own level of Magecraft.
As for him... his ti had probably frozen long ago, back in the Land of Shadows—
Just like his master, Scáthach.
"To be honest, it's a headache for
too." Shiomi rubbed his head. "Because I've been fixed like this, Sakura's respect now cos purely from the bond we've built over more than a decade. As for Caren, she basically treats
like I'm just a few years older than her."
"Hahaha~~ looks like your life isn't so easy either," Touko said with a grin.
At that mont, Shiomi extended his hand, palm up, in front of her—just as a famous jazz tune drifted out from within the Twin Towers.
"Dancing by the lake is definitely rare, but if it's your invitation, I suppose—" Touko said playfully, reaching out her hand.
But Shiomi lightly slapped it away.
"Cut it out. I ca to collect the money you owe ." He shot her a fierce glare. "You had enough to run off to England. Paying back a bit of your debt shouldn't be impossible, right?"
Touko withdrew her hand with mock regret. "Sorry, I'm broke at the mont."
Her blunt reply made Shiomi withdraw his hand with a sulk.
"But—" Touko's tone suddenly shifted. "If you can show
a few more Primordial Runes I haven't managed to decode yet, I might consider scraping so money together."
"You're not seriously saying that right now, are you?" Shiomi shot her a sideways glance.
"Half-joking, half-serious." Touko was utterly casual. "I an, rebuilding the Rune Magecraft foundation and decoding several lost Primordial Runes... I didn't think much of it at the ti, just sold the rights to the Clock Tower. Still, they're accomplishnts I can be proud of."
But then one day, a Magus claiming to be her student—soone who had learned Age of Gods Rune Magecraft from her—appeared. Naturally, Touko went to check him out.
What she discovered was that he hadn't acquired the patents she sold to the Clock Tower. Instead, he possessed all eighteen authentic Primordial Runes.
More precisely, he held a genuine foundation of Age of Gods Magecraft.
To cover that up, Shiomi had always deliberately suppressed the power behind his Magecraft during battle, presenting everything in the form of high-level spells.
Touko's interest in his complete set of Primordial Runes wasn't anything new.
But before Shiomi could respond, soone ca running out of the venue toward them.
It was Reines.
"Sorry to interrupt your conversation... sothing's happened." Reines looked at Shiomi. "Caren isn't doing well."
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