"Scattering Mist!"
[Target successfully eliminated]
[Activation time: 68ms]
[Error: 0]
[Evaluation: Pass]
A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the sterile, metallic chamber of the Yotsuba Family's Fourth Research Laboratory.
At the center of the testing ground, the dust slowly dispersed, revealing a shirtless young man stepping forward from the haze. His frame looked deceptively slender, but his well-defined muscles betrayed hours of harsh training and relentless experimentation. His face, sharp and handsome to the point of looking sculpted, might almost be mistaken for an artificial construct.
The only detail that seemed slightly out of place were his eyes. They were dark and profound, but within that abyss shimmered the warmth of unmistakable humanity.
His name was Yotsuba Mahiro.
Or more precisely—he bore the Yotsuba surname, but he was not yet truly acknowledged by the Tendo Main Family. And Mahiro himself carried a secret: he was not originally from this world.
He was a transmigrator.
One moment, he had simply gone out to buy something in his previous life; the next, he had been struck by the not-so-gentle "baptism" of a runaway truck.
The good news? He hadn't been flung into some despair-filled nightmare like Dark Souls or Warhammer 40K.
The bad news? He had landed in the world of Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei—a place where science and magic were fused into terrifying weapons, and where survival depended on talent, bloodline, and sheer ruthlessness.
At least, there was one stroke of luck.
He was reborn into one of the Ten Master Clans, the ruling families of Japan's magic society: the Ichijou, Futatsugi, Mitsuya, Yotsuba, Goryuu, Rokudou, Saegusa, Yatsushiro, Kudou, and Jumonji. These families collectively controlled politics, the military, and the future of magic research itself.
But, of all places, Mahiro had been thrust into the most feared and merciless of them all—
The Yotsuba Family.
And worse still, his early life had been spent within the Yotsuba Family's infamous Magician Skill Development Laboratory. Formally known as the Fourth Research Facility, most whispered its true nickname with fear: the "Lab of Death."
That was where he stood now, having just completed yet another brutal round of testing.
Yet the true cruelty of his fate wasn't simply the lab. It was his own mother.
A mother who, for reasons of her own, never hesitated to put him through trials that could easily kill him.
"Oh my, Mahiro, you are just as impressive as always."
The voice made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. He knew instantly who it belonged to.
A figure entered gracefully, her very presence overwhelming the atmosphere. She was a vision of beauty: long, jet-black hair tied into a ponytail yet still full and lustrous, flawless white skin, the alluring tear mole at the corner of her eye, and lips that curved into an eternally mysterious smile. Her figure was elegant yet voluptuous, her every step radiating nobility and danger.
This woman was his "cheap mother," the current head of the Yotsuba Family—
Yotsuba Maya.
"Oh, what an honor. It's rare for the head of the great Yotsuba Family to come all the way here," Mahiro said with a mocking tone, deliberately stressing her title instead of calling her okaa-san.
His sarcastic tone made the elderly butler standing behind Maya stiffen in anger. Hayama, a man over seventy who had served the Yotsuba for decades, frowned at such insolence. But before he could scold the boy, Maya stepped forward herself, her high heels clicking rhythmically against the lab floor.
Her charming, languid voice floated through the room like silk.
"You really are such a disobedient child, Mahiro. Even a mother like me would feel sad being treated so coldly~."
"Really? That's unfortunate," Mahiro replied flatly. "I honestly can't see even a trace of sadness on your face, though."
"Oh my, my… what an ungrateful boy. Disobedient children must be punished, you know."
As her words faded, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
A shadow unfurled beneath Maya's feet, spreading outward until it swallowed the entire chamber in darkness.
The pure white ceiling vanished, replaced by a vast, moonless sky glittering with countless stars. Trails of light streaked across the darkness like falling meteors, illuminating the room with otherworldly brilliance.
This was her domain.
The trump card of the "Queen of the Night"—the Convergence-type strategic magic "Meteor Swarm."
The stars frozen in the sky suddenly shifted, turning into lances of light that rained down toward Mahiro without mercy.
"Parade."
Mahiro whispered calmly, and his body shimmered faintly.
The torrent of stellar beams pierced straight through him, but strangely, not a single wound appeared. To any observer, it was as though the projectiles had passed through an illusion rather than flesh.
Maya's eyes widened for just an instant. Her cool, inscrutable smile faltered, replaced briefly by something that looked suspiciously like pride. But almost as quickly, she restored her graceful mask.
"Hehehe… splendid, Mahiro. I didn't expect you to master Parade to this extent already."
Mahiro smirked, crossing his arms. "Really? And how does it compare to Kushima Retsu-san's demonstration? You should know, right, okaa-sama?"
The truth of it was simple. Parade wasn't a technique from the Yotsuba bloodline. The Yotsuba were famed for their devastating mental-interference magic. By contrast, Parade was an advanced information manipulation illusion—originally a closely guarded secret of the Kushima Family.
But Mahiro had grasped it at a glance. To him, it had been like breathing.
In fact, he had even studied Maya-sama's "Night" long ago. He knew its composition intimately, enough to devise ten separate strategies to counter it—ten separate ways to kill her, should he wish.
Not that it mattered.
Killing this witch wouldn't benefit him at all. More importantly, she was still his "mother." The word might be little more than a title between them, but it was not meaningless.
"Hehe…"
Maya-sama chuckled softly at his question instead of answering. Folding her arms beneath her chest, she tilted her head gracefully. "Being able to wield Parade is impressive. But Mahiro, don't flaunt it casually outside. It could bring unnecessary eyes—and trouble—to the Yotsuba Family."
"…Outside?"
Mahiro's gaze sharpened. "You're saying… you'd actually let me, the 'monster' locked in this Fourth Lab, walk freely?"
It had been sixteen long years since he arrived in this world. And in all that time, the times he had stepped beyond the walls of the Yotsuba's Fourth Research Lab on Miyakijima could be counted on one hand. He lived, trained, and suffered within these confines. Even sunlight was a rare visitor.
Among the Yotsuba's branch families, few dared approach him at all. To them, he was not a child but a weapon—a beast in human skin. Only Maya-sama treated him as more, and even that was questionable.
And now, she wanted him to leave? What a joke.
"You can't phrase it like that, Mahiro."
With languid grace, Maya-sama's heels clicked against the floor as she approached. Her violet eyes, gleaming with an unreadable light, lifted to meet his.
"No matter what, you are my son. And you are already sixteen. Isn't it time you saw the world beyond this cold lab?"
"…Tch." Mahiro narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's your game? You expect me to believe you've suddenly grown soft? That you want me to 'enjoy my youth' like some anime protagonist?"
He scoffed. "Aren't you worried that the instant I step outside the gates of the Yotsuba, I'll just… run?"
"You won't."
The queenly woman stepped closer, her gaze unwavering. Her amethyst eyes—so sharp they felt like they could pierce the soul—reflected his form clearly.
"I am your mother, Mahiro. I know you won't abandon me. And even if you tried…" She smiled faintly, dangerous and calm. "I'll be keeping a monitor on you. I'll contact you regularly as well."
Mahiro clicked his tongue. "Ah, now that sounds more like the Yotsuba Family Head I know. Always with a leash."
He turned away, unwilling to let her see the flicker of unease in his eyes. "So then… what kind of trick are you plotting this time?"
"Nothing so sinister." Maya-sama's lips curved into that elegant, dangerous smile again. "I simply want you to attend school."
"…School?" Mahiro blinked, dumbfounded. His mind froze for a beat before the words burst out of his mouth.
"Ehhhhhh!? Nani kore!?"