November 6, AD 2095

Yotsuba Main House

Sunroom

Several things had happened today that made him recall the events of three years ago.

That was probably why he remembered Honami Sakurai for the first time in a while.

His memory of her was steeped in regret. Even Tatsuya couldn’t help thinking about it sometimes.

But he knew regret was the only thing he could do about it, and he had come to terms with that.

And if not for her sacrifice, Tatsuya might never have considered joining the Independent Magic Battalion and polishing his magical combat abilities.

This time, nobody had to die.

That idea allowed him to console himself with the fact that these three years hadn’t been for naught.

And three years ago, he had already offered a silent prayer in tribute to the woman who had died to save him.

…That was why he was so surprised now.

When he saw the girl who came out with the tea snacks, Tatsuya very nearly raised his voice.

“…Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The girl had actually asked Miyuki about it, not him—because her surprise was even greater than his.

He couldn’t blame her, either.

The face of the waitress outfit–clad girl was one and the same as Honami Sakurai’s.

Shortly after the little girl departed, Maya made her appearance in the sunroom. Hayama wasn’t with her, meaning this place was a private one.

The same reason had previously allowed Tatsuya to take a seat.

“What’s the matter, Miyuki?” asked Maya with a worried expression as soon as she sat down. “You look surprised about something.”

She was back to the “normal” Maya Yotsuba, a completely different person than when she and Tatsuya had confronted each other.

“Nothing… Aunt Maya, who was that girl?” asked Miyuki.

The woman nodded in understanding. “Oh, you mean Minami?” she said.

“Her name is Minami Sakurai—second generation of the Sakura series, and genetically, the twin of Honami Sakurai, the one who was your mother’s Guardian.”

Second generation meant she’d been born from an engineered-magician parent.

And if she was genetically her twin, that meant a first-generation specimen with the same genetic information as Honami’s had been her mother.

It made sense that her features looked just like her.

“She’s quite good at her job, too. I believe her latent abilities may rival the Saegusa twins. I’ve actually been training her to be your Guardian when the time for it comes. As an adult, a woman ends up in many situations where she absolutely needs a female bodyguard, after all.”

Miyuki seemed convinced, for the moment, by her aunt’s reasoning. Because she was right—in certain places, having only a male bodyguard would be inconvenient.

But now that Maya had made her true intentions known to Tatsuya, he had steeled himself even more than before for the breakdown and clash that might come to pass in the future. If she wanted to make a tool of the girl with the same face as her, then that only made them less compatible.

However, at that moment, he had no way of knowing that such a breakdown, such a clash, was impossible.