"This mountain path is a bit rugged and tricky to navigate. If you don't mind, why not take my hand?"
Shiomi extended his right hand toward Touko.
"Of course I don't mind, but was it really necessary to point that out?"
Touko clasped Shiomi's palm and confidently strode along the mountain trail.
"Naturally, it's to consider your feelings," Shiomi said with a smile, nodding.
"You always pay attention to the strangest things," Touko remarked, unflappable as ever. She teased him as usual. "More importantly, do you know where they are?"
The Singularity, May 2001. En route to Kumanoyu Hot Springs Inn in Toyama Prefecture.
An unexpected incident occurred during their first Rayshifting in a long time. The group of six was scattered during the transfer. Shiomi and Touko landed on a hillside near the hot spring inn, temporarily separated from Morgan and the others.
Touko was now asking about this incident.
From the feedback received from Chaldea's communication link, the signal conditions on the mountain road were fine, but the closer they got to the hot spring inn, the more problematic the connection became.
In other words, they couldn't establish contact via communicator.
"It's fine..." Shiomi tapped his left finger against his temple. "Chaldea's communication devices have been jammed, but the psychic link between Morgan and me remains uninterrupted. Whether this is an accident or intentional, they've already reached the inn and are waiting near the entrance. We just need to hurry over and meet up."
The psychic link he referred to was telepathy.
This communication method originated during the Holy Grail War, established simultaneously between Masters and Servants through magical energy supply channels. During their pilgrimage through the Fairy Kingdom, there were times when Shiomi had to operate separately from Morgan. To ensure they could always reach each other, they used a magical formula to achieve telepathic communication even outside the Master-Servant bond.
Even with inherent differences in their magical and mental capacities, they achieved the highest possible level of synchronization.
This ritual was layered onto the pain compensation ritual near Morgan's lower abdomen.
"It really is an incredibly convenient method," Touko couldn't help but chuckle.
For Magi, establishing real-time long-distance communication without modern technology is actually a rather complex undertaking.
It either required fixed magical apparatus or other specific conditions.
A method allowing communication anytime, anywhere, like using a mobile phone, wasn't inherently impossible to achieve with magic.
The problem lay in the excessive synchronization of mana and spirit between the Magi, which carried a risk.
Should one party harbor ill intent, they could exploit this method to manipulate and control the other.
The relative strength of the two parties only affected the smoothness of the process.
For the bloodless, tearless world of Magi, it presented a hundred harms with not a single benefit. Consequently, it was scarcely ever considered.
Thus, conversely, the very existence of this technique served as the most eloquent testament to the relationship between Shiomi and Morgan.
"I'd love to cut corners too, but unfortunately, the Britannia Lostbelt doesn't have a tech tree. This is just how it is."
Shiomi explained with a smile.
"You make it sound like you have no choice. If Morgan hears you say that, she's going to get mad at you, isn't she?" Touko reminded him, shaking her head helplessly.
Shiomi froze, quickly raising a finger. "That was a slip of the tongue. Don't tell Morgan, or I'll end up sleeping in the hallway."
"If you get kicked out, you can come to my room," Touko said nonchalantly, offering a cheerful solution.
"Hey..."
"Never mind that. Before we left, you mentioned this hot spring trip. Do you do this every year after getting married?" Touko asked, referring to the family trips.
"Pretty much. Before that, I was already traveling the world under the guise of my Sealing Designation Enforcer duties," Shiomi nodded. "So, I think, whether as an ordinary person or as a Magus, it's important to broaden one's horizons. By experiencing a wider world, we can better balance the two identities of being a Magus and a regular person."
"Oh?" Touko gestured with interest, silently encouraging Shiomi to continue.
After all, this was a philosophy Shiomi wouldn't—and didn't need to—share with her. Sakura and Caren were his children, inheritors of the Primordial Runes, which was why Shiomi needed to pay special attention to these aspects.
"Ultimately, Magecraft is just a special ability and skill," Shiomi continued. "If being a Magus becomes too difficult, it's better to set it aside. That's what I've always told them."
"But that doesn't mean you don't have expectations for them," Touko pointed out.
"Mm. More than hoping they become accomplished Magi, I just want Sakura and Caren to find happiness." Shiomi nodded frankly. "If that happiness can't be found through magic, then it's better to let it go. After all, I'm not some heir to a thousand-year-old Magus lineage. I was just a disciple chosen by my master, and she never demanded I inherit the techniques of the Land of Shadows."
"So you chose to prioritize fulfilling your duties as a parent before committing to being a Magus..."
It seemed both unsurprising and utterly unreasonable.
Touko understood that if they hadn't parted ways back then, had they truly married and built a family life together, disagreements over their children's education would have inevitably surfaced.
At that time, the Touko Aozaki she knew was more thoroughly a Magus than at any other point in her life.
"To transform a flesh-and-blood child, through years of brutal training, into a vessel for inheriting Magecraft... especially if that child was raised their entire life with that sole purpose, only to be discarded as 'unfit' without a second thought for their suffering... I don't think that's something a human being should ever do."
Shiomi released Touko's hand and leaped ahead onto the steeper part of the mountain path, preparing to pull her up.
As he turned back to face her and spoke those words, Touko froze, then her expression sharpened.
It wasn't that she disagreed with Shiomi's words, but something strange, cloaked in black mist, had appeared behind him.
"Tenkei! Behind us?"
She raised her voice slightly to warn him, but before she could finish, the spider-like anomaly raised its slender limbs to strike—only for its entire body to be severed mid-air.
"What's behind us?" Shiomi asked, smiling calmly.
"You... you..." Touko sighed, then laughed again.
Just as they had dealt with the anomaly—vanishing before they could even discern its true form—and were about to continue on their way to meet up with others at the inn, a peculiar magical fluctuation rippled through the woods.
Then came the sound of boots crunching through the leaves and mud.
"Wow, that was something. I thought some ordinary person was in trouble and came to help, but turns out you two are pretty impressive—took down that thing in two moves. Looks like I'm not needed after all..."
A woman with jet-black hair and sapphire eyes spoke with brimming energy, but as she stepped out from the foliage, the sight before her made her words trail off abruptly.