Ayato arrived home.
"I'm ho—"
"Welcome back, Master Ayato."
"Holy—!"
As Ayato opened the door, his maid appeared in front of him like a ghost. He almost tripped on the steps as he retreated backwards.
He sighed while facepalming.
"Anastasia, how many times do I have to tell you not to scare me like that?! You scared the living shit out of me!"
The boy did his best to calm his anger. Anastasia, who wore a blank face, stuck her tongue out.
"Stop it! You can't tease people when your facial expression doesn't even change!"
"I must say, you are overreacting a tad much, are you not, Master?"
"No, overreacting isn't it. Anyone would be scared if you did that. It doesn't help that you're as pale as a sheet."
He walked into the house and took off his shoes. Anastasia bowed as he handed her his bag.
Ayato got changed in his room and descended the stairs. He went into the living room.
As per usual, he sat on the sofa in front of the large television. Ayato set his hand over the low, black marble, coffee table which was about 3.5 metres in length.
[Handprint detected. Matching—Ayato Kyouya. Security Code?]
"M-N-S-A. Maiden Name, Saya Asanagi."
[Confirmed Security Code. Allowing access to the Akashic Records.]
The Akashic Records. What Ayato was using wasn't quite the book of knowledge known to history.
The Akashic Records is a system that Ayato and Anastasia developed together. They created a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence tasked with collecting information about the daily world every day. It collected news from both reliable and underground sources. To live, Ayato needs to constantly stay in the loop of information.
"Hm... Oi, Shic, explain the news about the jesters."
The multitude of holographic screens in front of him zoomed into one. It showed a picture of two people dressed like magicians—of the circus—wearing jester masks.
[In Ikebukuro, just outside of the station, two jesters appeared. They caused havoc for three minutes before stopping. Zero casualties but buildings were damaged.]
"Talk about a useless display."
"I believe they were merely attempting to get their name out. It happened with the Trinity a while back."
Anastasia said, setting tea down on the table. It was expensive Earl Grey. The bergamot used was from the source in southern Italy. Anastasia usually does something special after grinding the leaves but she doesn't tell a soul.
Ayato took a sip.
"Oh?"
His expression lit up as he took another before setting the tea down.
"You did something to the tea, didn't you?"
A smile of delight perked up her face.
"It's a secret."
She teased him.
The boy went back to scrolling through the news. He archived the news of the jesters and found another piece of news.
"They're at it again. The Liberation Movement."
"Yes, they've been moving a lot frequently. Even if they don't involve themselves with you, Master, you should be careful. They may not know of you but they would know that you're of the Kyouya Family."
"Right..."
The Liberation Movement consisted of people in the 22nd century who couldn't accept the presence of magic in the world. They formed during the period of war—World War III—in the late 2080s.
Their goal is the cull of magicians and they want to revert to a normal world.
"They're just a bunch of people. What do they think they can change?"
"Unlike us magicians, who use magic as a weapon, they use their strength in numbers and voices. With enough reason, they could even damage your reputation."
"I never cared about it."
"I know."
He continued his news search.
"Hm? This is..."
Something caught his eye.
·———·
The next day...
A mysterious pair stood on top of a building near the Auralia Magic High School area. One watched the students eagerly while the other scrolled through the phone in his hand.
They both wore unique jester masks. The jester masks only covered half of their faces. One had a mask of anger while another had a mask of delight.
This pair was the same one that caused a scene in Ikebukuro.
"We're at a high school this time, Wrath?"
The smaller one, the one crouching, asked.
"Yes. Auralia Magic High School. One of the seven prestigious magic academies in Japan. Compared to the other schools, their track record isn't that great."
Wrath said, sliding the phone into his sleeve.
The other jester smiled mischievously while she watched the students enter the gates of the school.
"So, what are we here for?"
"Do you know about the Kyouya Family, Greed?"
"Hm? Of course, I do. No one here in Japan doesn't. They're the most influential family and the strongest family in the Seven Great Families."
"We're here for one of their clansmen."
Although the female jester, Greed, looked content about everything else, she frowned and turned to Wrath.
"Eh? That's boring. I'm guessing we're here for the eldest one then. What was her name? Ki... Kiawa or something."
Greed stood up and skipped around the building's edge merrily.
"No, we're not going after Kiara Kyouya. She's too big of a figurehead. We're going after her younger brother, Ayato Kyouya."
"Who?"
"You don't need to know him. It's just important that he's a Kyouya."
She stopped and leaned over. It seemed like she wasn't satisfied with the information that Wrath provided her.
"At least show me a photo, how am I supposed to identify him?"
"We won't be the ones doing the work, so don't worry."
"Speaking about us, where's Pride? He was supposed to be with us today."
The jester looked around but had no luck in finding the one called Pride.
"I gave him a special mission. He won't be around for a while."
"Ah, you should've said so, then."
Wrath smiled. It looked strange since his jester mask was frowning.
"There's no need to set the scene. We already have all the pieces in play. Now, the play shall commence."
He began laughing maniacally. Greed watched with an expression of boredom.
"You just sound silly."
Greed commented. They were a mysterious pair, not a pair of villains.