Maidens of Cygnus - Volume 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – April 12th

Sunday morning, 8am. The doorbell in Marika’s apartment rang.

“I’m gooing.”

Marika raised her voice to answer the doorbell and afterwards ran to the monitor.

“Good morning, Mina.”

The first visitor this morning was Alisa.

Marika instantly pushed the button to cancel the automatic lock.

“Good morning. I’ve unlocked it so come on up.”

“Sorry for the intrusion.”

Alisa sincerely said, and then vanished from the camera’s field of view.

Marika, who was already prepared to leave, began making tea for Alisa.

“Welcome. Come in.”

Marika told her to come inside, leaving Alisa confused.

“But you’re ready to leave...”

The reason being Marika’s ready-to-leave appearance.

“We have some time to spare for some tea. Right?“

But in the end, Alisa was pushed into entering the room by Marika.

She sat down in front of the dining table in a slightly uncomfortable way and stared at Marika’s back. Marika turned around as if she had felt her gaze. No, on her hand was a tray with cups, so she must have just finished preparing the tea.

“Here you go.”

The two cups Marika brought had straight tea in them. However, Alisa’s cup was about two thirds full, while Marika’s only around half full.

On the tray was a sugar pot and a carton of milk which had been stored at room temperature.

“Do you want some?”

Marika asked Alisa after opening the lid of the milk carton.

“No, I’m good.”

Alisa so said and then tasted her black tea.

Marika poured the milk into her own cup.

Alisa pondered for a moment and added just half a spoon of sugar into her black tea.

Alisa and Marika sipped their cups at the same time.

Alisa was likely satisfied with the taste, as she returned the cup to the table without trying to add anything else to the tea.

Marika made a slightly displeased expression and reached for the sugar pot herself.

“By the way, Asha.”

While mixing the milk tea and the sugar she just added with a spoon, Marika addressed Alisa.

“What is it?”

Alisa stopped raising the teacup midair and looked at Marika in that position.

“Why are you in uniform?”

“Eh, this is...”

Alisa looked away from Marika. Alisa brought a bag with a change of clothes, but as Marika said, she’s wearing her usual uniform right now.

“Didn’t the Club President say it was fine not to bring uniforms?”

Marika tilted her head, looking curious.

Marika was wearing a T-shirt with long sleeves, short pants, and knee socks. She looked like she could do some real sports like that.

Still avoiding Marika’s eyes, she vaguely replied “For some reason...”.

“Could it be, you think it’s rude to go in casual clothes?”

“I don’t think it’s rude, but...”

Alisa met Marika’s eyes but immediately looked down.

“...I didn’t know what kind of casual clothes I should wear... or rather, it’s related to the school, so I thought the uniform was a safe choice...”

When Marika heard Alisa’s excuse, she started chuckling.

“You’re awful for laughing at that.”

“I’m sorry.”

Alisa turned away sulking and Marika apologized, with a smiling face and a voice of someone who’s still kind of laughing.

“I mean, it’s not like we’re going on a date, so you don’t need to worry about that kind of stuff.”

“You’re saying I’m just too self-conscious, uh?”

“I didn’t go that far. Look, the tea is getting cold.”

Marika expertly continued her laughter silently and Alisa drank the tea while turned away and ignoring her.

Before long, Alisa’s cup was empty, and with Marika still smiling and Alisa still looking angry, they left the apartment.

◇ ◇ ◇

By the time they got off the Cabinet at the station closest to the school, Alisa’s mood, as expected, had already recovered.

In contrast, Marika’s couldn’t hide the exhaustion on her face, but what happened inside that two-seater Cabinet is unclear to third parties.

Well, Marika looked tired but also relieved, so it was probably all resolved peacefully.

“Is it this way?”

“It said it was on the opposite direction to the school, I’m pretty sure. I’ll check the map again.”

In Marika’s question and Alisa’s response, they were speaking with their usual friendly tone.

“Yeah, this is right. Wait, what...?”

Alisa scowled when she reconfirmed the location on the information terminal.

“Is something wrong?”

“It says the estimated time of arrival is in fifteen minutes.”

“The site said ‘ten-minute walk from the station’, right?”

The indications on the website are mandated by law and the data that appears on the information terminal is customized for the owner. This means that according to the law (Fair Competition Agreement for Real Estate Attribution approved by the Fair Trade Committee), it is assumed it takes a ‘healthy adult woman’ ten minutes to get there, but fifteen minutes for Alisa.

“...I’m not walking that slow on purpose, though.”

Alisa muttered, somewhat unhappy.

“Ugh. Going to school from the station takes about ten minutes, and this is further than that.”

Marika spoke in slightly bored tone, spilling her thoughts in what could be called a complaint.

“So about thirty minutes from school. Transportation really is needed.”

After the grumblings, Alisa pulled herself together and pressed Marika with “Let’s go?”.

The facility the Crowd Ball Club is using is in a rather complicated area. There are living streets with unnatural cranks because of roadside trees in some places — roads that forcibly restrain vehicle speed for the protection of pedestrians — and it looked like microbuses, let alone large buses, would need to make a detour. The two felt they understood: “So this is why they use an electric kickboard...”.

“Ah, welcome. Thank you for coming!”

As they entered the area that said ‘reserved for the Magic University-affiliated First High School’s Crowd Ball Club’, the Club President Hatsune greeted them with a seemingly surprised tone at first, but right after revealed her delight.

“Sorry for the bother.”

“I’m just escorting her, but please take care of me.”

Marika returned the greeting after Alisa, clearly announcing that she was not a candidate to join the club.

“There is no problem. You’re more than welcome to just observe.”

“No, I’m not observing...”

But the word ‘observe’ made Marika anxious.

“I’m just joking.”

Hatsune added while giggling after seeing Marika’s anxiety. From the look on her face, it’s likely she wasn’t teasing her from the start and was just trying to erase Marika’s feelings of guilt.

“Both of you, come seat over here. A practice match is about to start, so I’ll explain the rules as we watch it.”

“Please do.”

Alisa bowed with her head as a sign of agreement.

“Asha, you should sit next to the president.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Alisa sat down next to Hatsune as Marika advised. Marika sat down next to Alisa. They were settled down in a bench for three people with Alisa in the middle.

As Hatsune said, the match was about to start. In the court, surrounded by transparent walls and ceiling, were two players facing each other with a net between them. They were standing at the ready with their long tennis rackets (or something similar).

From behind the player on the right side, a soft ball was fired to the left side of the court.

“That’s a Crowd Ball serve. Unlike tennis, the players don’t serve. The serve speed is constant until the end. So the first one is literally a ‘service’.”

The player on the left struck the ball to the ceiling. The ball hit the ceiling and was about to hit the court on the right side.

Before the ball came into contact with the court, it was softly bounced back at waist height. A curved ball, called lob shot in tennis, was returned.

The player on the left didn’t return it with magic, but smashed it back instead.

The player on the right hit the ball to their back. The ball bounced on the back wall and curved to the left side of the court.

While that happened, a ball was fired, this time from the shooter on the left side. The player on the right hit it hard.

The ball they hit and the ball that rebounded on the back wall went over the net almost simultaneously.

“So that’s how it works.”

Marika muttered.

It was too loud to be a murmur though, so both Alisa and Hatsune heard it.

“Balls are shot every 20 seconds up to the maximum of nine balls. It’s a common tactics to use that timing early on to your advantage.”

“Do you count the twenty seconds in your head?”

Hatsune shook her head at Alisa’s question.

“I don’t really count. You can intuitively tell when the next ball is coming when you get used to the timing.”

While they talked, the number of balls kept increasing.

“They’re hitting them with magic more often, huh?”

Alisa pointed it out and this time Hatsune nodded to agree.

“As the number of balls increases, the less you’ll make it with just the racket.”

“But they’re not just using magic, right?”

“Even with a thought-operated CAD, it’s faster to move your body if you’re nearby.”

“Ah, I get it.”

On the other side of Alisa, Marika agreed with Hatsune’s words.

“There are times when your body just moves before you think about it.”

“While magic doesn’t work unless you think.”

Alisa also nodded along to show she understood.

“That’s why the players hold rackets. Three years ago the rules were changed to make it harder to return the balls only by using magic.”

“What kind of rules where added?”

Alisa showed great interest. Given her magic abilities, it’s natural for this part to be very related to how she approaches the game.

Hatsune expressed, with a “Heh...”, her admiration for Alisa’s intuition.

“Juumonji-san, as I thought, you’re great. You have good sense.”

“Umm, thank you very much?”

Alisa didn’t understand what she was being praised for, but she returned her thanks in with a doubtful voice.

“They added rules for the size of shields.”

Alisa’s reaction was, in some way, impolite, but Hatsune didn’t appear to care.

“The rule added states that if you are defending your court with a magic shield, the shield’s major axis, that is, the largest of the length, width, and diagonal lines, must not exceed a third of the court’s width. The singles court is six meters wide so the shield’s major axis must be within two meters, and the doubles court is nine meters wide, so the shields must be within three meters. This rule is very strict and any violation will result in automatic disqualification and loss.”

“Of course, if there wasn’t a limit on that, there wouldn’t even be a match.”

Alisa agreed with the rule easily. Or rather, she didn’t understand why it wasn’t restricted before.

“...But in a real match, it might be difficult to play without breaking that rule.”

“Why?”

Marika didn’t understand what Alisa was worried about and interjected.

“Because shields are usually built according to the area required, not how long you want them to be in meters. For example, if two balls three meters apart come flying towards you at the same time, normally you wouldn’t go to the trouble of making two shields, you’d just use one shield that is three meters long.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Also, the size of the shield is measured with the surface, right?”

This question was directed at Hatsune.

“You really understood it well, huh?”

Hatsune was the most impressed she’d been until then.

“Eh, what does that mean?”

Marika didn’t understand the meaning of Alisa’s question.

“The magic shields I’m best at are spherical, not flat surfaces.”

But when explained that far, Marika seemed to understand.

“Right. If you measure the length of a shield’s surface, even if the width is exactly two meters, the major axis will be two meters or more. This doesn’t mean you can’t use flat shields, but you’ll probably have to fiddle with the Activation Sequence setup in your CAD.”

“Though they’re called magic shields, there sure is whole variety of them, huh?”

Marika murmured admiringly.

And Alisa reacted with a dumbfounded look.

“...Mina, you’re talking like you’ve never heard of them, but your specialty is a magic shield too, you know?”

“No, I know that. But mine is...”

Marika gave off a fake smile.

Marika seemed reluctant to touch on this topic so Alisa didn’t go further.

“At any rate, they haven’t had any time to rest at all.” 

Alisa changed the topic and Hatsune assented with what she said.

“That is probably the biggest difference between tennis and Crowd Ball. In Crowd Ball there is no concept of out-of-bounds or dead ball, so the game doesn’t stop.”

“One set lasts for three minutes, right?”

“Correct. Since there are no breaks in the game, if the player doesn’t use magic they’ll just keep dashing around for three minutes. This is the biggest reason for Crowd Ball being a magic competition.”

“But even with magic, I think three minutes straight would be difficult.”

Marika interposed in the discussion between Alisa and Hatsune.

“Yeah, you’re right. Since the rule change, stamina has become increasingly more important.”

Hatsune brought up a bitter smile while replying.

“Maybe that’s another reason for the drop in popularity.”

Her words gave a glimpse of her worries about the dropping number of club members.

As if using Hatsune’s lamentations as a signal, the surface of the court suddenly grew darker. That was when Alisa and Marika first realized the court was made of light panels.

“When the court becomes dark, that marks the end of the set. Crowd Ball is often played with many courts next to each other, so it’s common for sound to get drown out.”

“That’s not all they do, right? Aren’t the court’s sensors counting ball bounces?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The surface of the balls is covered with conductive fibers. That way, the system detects ball touch by the change in electric resistance on the slightly electrified surface of the court.”

Hatsune explained what Marika brought up.

“In that case, wouldn’t it count sweat too?”

As for this, it was just Marika overthinking.

“The computer can tell apart that much.”

“Ahaha, of course it can.”

Hatsune responded to Marika’s fake laughter with her smile of her own, and then turned to Alisa.

“Juumonji-san, won’t you try it out?”

“Eh?”

She looked back at the court, suspecting it was a three-set match, and the second-year students who participated in the match had put the balls that had been scattered on the court away with magic.

“Since you’ve come to observe. For the racket and shoes you can use the club’s equipment. I can lend you some clothes if you’d like?”

“No need, I brought a change of clothes.”

“I see, you’re well prepared. The changing room is this way. I’ll take you there.”

Alisa couldn’t decline and decided to try it out.

“Is my CAD fine as it is?”

Alisa entered the court holding a racket and showed her left wrist to Hatsune.

“Actually, there are regulations, but since this isn’t an official match, you don’t need to worry about it for today.”

Hatsune was on the other side of the court. She’ll play the role of opponent in the trial match.

“Now then, you’ll receive first, Juumonji-san.”

In Crowd Ball, the one who receives first has the advantage. Hatsune’s proposal was naturally on that basis.

“Yes, please let me.”

Remembering the practice match she just watched, Alisa slightly lowered her waist in the middle of the court to assume the stance.

“Asha, do your best!”

Chees flew in from Marika.

Right after, a ball was fired gently from the shooter.

Alisa has no experience with tennis, but since she came to Tokyo she has been playing racquetball for fitness training. Crowd Ball’s racket is more similar to a tennis racket than a racquetball racket, but Alisa can adjust her intuition on that basis. She hit the approaching ball as hard as she could.

“Ooh.”

Marika wasn’t the only one to cheer. Even as the the number of balls increased to three, the score remained zero to zero. By how she’s handling Crowd Ball, it was hard to believe it’s her first time.

But right when the fourth ball came out, the court on Alisa’s side turned into a bright red.

Alisa’s court flashed red, while in Hatsune’s court the panels were dark.

“Umm, what is this?”

Alisa stopped playing and asked Hatsune.

“It’s too bad. It’s your loss by rule infringement.”

“Eh?”

“Too Big Shield. A violation of the rules by making an oversized shield.”

When she said it, Alisa finally realized. 

“It’s not just the size of the shield, the AI also automatically determines all magic-related rule violations. The sensors used are cutting edge technology.”

There is also a rule in Crowd Ball that says a player must not interfere directly with the ball’s trajectory. Monitoring rule violations in this sport that uses nine balls is very likely impossible without an AI directly connected with magic sensors.

“The AI really isn’t flexible. This is just a trial so let’s try with it turned off?”

“No, please keep it like this.”

Alisa turned down Hatsune’s offer.

When Hatsune saw Alisa’s appearance exuding competitive spirit, surprise appeared on her expression. But right afterwards, it changed into a pleasant smile.

“Okay then. Let’s keep it and start the game again.”

Hatsune pushed the balls on her court backwards with magic. Alisa copied her.

A small machine that looked like a robotic vacuum cleaner appeared and took away the balls.

Alisa and Hatsune assumed their stances and the match started again with Alisa’s receive.

Alisa’s trial with Hatsune as her opponent was now in the fifth match.

Until now, the results were all the same as the first game, with Alisa losing by rule infringement. Each time due to oversized shields.

(This time for sure, I’m not going to foul.)

Alisa resolved herself and confronted the game.

To do that, the safest way would be to not use shield magic.

But Alisa understands that doing this won’t help her win the match.

Alisa decided to limit herself to bouncing back only one ball with shield magic, and the balls not covered by that are sent back with either a vector reversal technique or by hitting them with the racket.

But by doing that, naturally, she won’t be able to hit all the balls. The points are steadily increasing on Hatsune’s side.

— Why am I trying this hard?

As she dashed after the balls as much as she could, doubts flashed on Alisa’s mind.

She isn’t obsessed with winning. Her lack of desire to win hasn’t changed since the games began.

— But, it’s frustrating.

Not appearing to understand what was so frustrating, Alisa frantically chased balls.

One by one, seven balls crossed over the net.

Alisa returned two of them with the magic shield, one with a vector reversal technique and another one with the racket, but three she was unable to reach and fell on her court.

Three points were added to Hatsune’s score and the light on the court’s surface disappeared.

On her fifth game, for the first time, Alisa was able to keep the game going for three minutes.

The score was seven to twenty-five. A total defeat, by over triple the score.

Alisa was frustrated. But she wasn’t frustrated because she lost. Alisa didn’t know what she was frustrated over, but she intuitively understood it wasn’t just because she was defeated.

“You really surprised me. I can’t believe that was your first time, you played really well.”

Hatsune held her right hand over the net.

“Thank you... very much.”

Out of breath, Alisa shared the handshake with Hatsune.

Alisa left the boxed court and was met by Marika, who held a towel on her hand.

“Asha, good job out there.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

While wiping the sweat on her face, Alisa sat down on the bench. Her rough movements while sitting made a loud noise, something usually not seen from Alisa. That alone showed how tired she was.

“In that last game, weren’t you almost getting the hang of it?”

Marika’s evaluation, which was neither flattery nor consolation, Alisa replied with a “No” and a head shake.

“Not at all. My decision-making was completely off.”

“You’re not used to it, being that way is natural.”

Those words came from Hatsune, who just returned from the court.

“It may have been a little immature of me to play like that against an inexperienced player like you, Juumonji-san. The other club members were scolding me about this too.”

It seems the reason she took so long to return to the bench was because the other members were criticizing her. They were probably saying things like ‘What are we going to do if you beat up every newcomer that might join’.

“No, it wasn’t like that at all. You weren’t playing serious yet, am I right?”

Alisa’s line was not a question. Her tone was not that of a suspicion, but of confidence.

“Y-yeah. That’s, well...”

Hearing Hatsune’s answer, Alisa felt she understood half the reason for her frustration.

“Excuse me. I’ve gotten pretty sweaty so I’d like to change now.”

Hatsune, who was looking embarrassed, quickly changed her expression when she heard Alisa’s request.

“Ah, right. Do you want to use the shower too?”

Hatsune’s voice and expression were half relieved and half disappointed.

Relieved that Alisa wasn’t upset about it.

Disappointed because she expected Alisa to be leaving already.

“Thank you.”

“Okay. I’ll take you there. It’s this way.”

But unlike what she expected, after Alisa took a shower and changed back to her uniform, she observed the Crowd Ball Club’s practice session until just after midday.

◇ ◇ ◇

The time was around noon.

Alisa and Marika split from Hatsune, had lunch at a suitable restaurant in front of the station and then headed home in a Cabinet.

“Asha, what did you think about the Crowd Ball Club?”

Marika asked Alisa what she thought inside the two-seater Cabinet.

“It was frustrating.”

Alisa spoke indifferently, not sounding frustrated at all.

“Eh?”

To the point that Marika thought she misheard it.

“I’m sure it was frustration that I felt, but I don’t know exactly what I was frustrated about. Thought I think part of it was because I couldn’t get the president to take me seriously.”

“Isn’t it because you lost?”

Marika’s guess was sensible.

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

But Alisa denied it. She wasn’t unclear, her tone had conviction in it.

“I see. But you don’t know exactly what it is?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’re not okay with not making sure of what it is, right?”

“Yeah, I’m not.”

“Then...”

“I think I’ll join the Crowd Ball Club.”

In the middle of the question ‘Then, what are you going to do?’, Alisa gave her response.

“Hmm...”

From the flow of the conversation, this was the expected conclusion, but even so Marika was still caught by surprise. Joining the cub because of frustration, whatever the real motive was, was simply not Alisa — or at least, it’s not the mentality of the Alisa Marika knew.

(I knew it, not everything is as it used to be...)

Marika thought it to be natural, but on the other hand, she also felt lonely. If there was no change, there was no growth. Therefore changing is natural, and if there truly was no change, that would be worrisome.

It was not Alisa’s change itself that made her feel lonely, but rather that Marika wasn’t able to share that time when she was changing with her.

◇ ◇ ◇

If she was going to start attending club activities, there was something Alisa had to make sure of beforehand, other than her own feelings.

Alisa, who went to her detached room after dinner, returned to the main house when she heard from the housekeeper that Katsuto had returned home. At the entrance to the building, the housekeeper told her that Katsuto was waiting for her in the study. She went straight there.

“Sorry for disturbing, it’s Alisa.”

“Come in.”

Her knock was answered immediately.

“Excuse me.”

Alisa somehow managed to keep her voice from shivering from nervousness and entered Katsuto’s room.

When stood in front of Katsuto, Alisa feels a lot more nervous now than when she was taken to this house. She thinks the improvement in her magic skills has something to do with that.

Two years ago, she hadn’t understood how great Katsuto was, but she, little by little, was coming to understand it. Moreover, from her own self-analysis, she’s come to the point where she feels an intense pressure from the strength of his magic.

This illusionary feeling of being crushed was not just because of the difference in their physique.

As a member of the Juumonji Family, it is normal and proper to feel the trust in the aura Katsuto exudes, but Alisa freezes in front of him. And she felt guilty for having that reaction.

Alisa’s nervousness was not just a genuine reaction to the pressure, it was also worry that Katsuto would sense her fear.

No matter what the reason may be, it is unpleasant for anyone to be feared. Even Katsuto should not be an exception.

Alisa thought so, and she was assaulted by anxiety every time.

That’s why Alisa doesn’t go meet Katsuto herself often. But this time, Alisa believed she had to go to him on her own accord.

“Katsuto-san, I have something to ask you.”

The same goes for Yuuto, but Alisa doesn’t call Katsuto ‘Nii-san’. Naturally, she doesn’t call him ‘Onii-sama’ either. She persists in using ‘Yuuto-san’ and ‘Katsuto-san’. It’s not that she doesn’t open herself to them, but there’s no denying she voluntarily draws a line between them and her.

“Is there something troubling you at school?”

But the same is true for Katsuto as well. It’s hard to consider his attitude towards Alisa as one towards a younger sister. But this is not unique to Alisa, towards Kazumi he acts more as a responsible adult, as a family Head, than a brother. Before inheriting the seat of family Head from Kazuki, he acted as the next Head of the family. The reason why Kazumi, who just started her second year of middle school, appears more mature than her age indicates, is probably because of Katsuto’s attitude.

But for Alisa at this moment, that kind of mature response was much appreciated.

“Would it be okay to start attending club activities at school?” This will affect my training time, but I intend to intensify my training to make up for it.

“Club activities, uh?”

“Is it okay?”

“Yes. If there’s anything you need for it, just let me know.”

Katsuto readily approved Alisa’s club activities.

She didn’t think he would oppose it, but his approval went more smoothly than Alisa expected.

“Yes, umm...”

“You don’t need to worry about your training. Your magic skills are improving at a good rate. Even if you spend some time on club activities, you’re likely to reach the target level before you graduate.”

Katsuto anticipated that Alisa was going to talk about the effects on her magic training and dismissed her concerns.

Alisa became even more anxious when Katsuto gave her his seal of approval.

“Is that true? The problem of not being able to attack, it’s been six months and there’s still no signs of it being fixed at all.”

“You probably don’t need to learn offensive skills.”

Alisa felt offended by his way of speaking, as if he was pushing her away.

She didn’t just feel it, she showed it in her face.

“Your assignment is to not use too much power.”

But Katsuto was immovable. Not a shred of offense could be seen in his demeanor.

“To avoid overheating of the Magic Calculation Area, you must understand your limits and have full control over your magic. That is the ability you should attain, offensive skills are nothing more than a secondary target. If you achieve the true objective, the secondary tasks can be ignored.”

Alisa was taken aback by Katsuto’s words.

To conquer the genetic defect of the Juumonji Family that makes her prone to overheating. — That is the reason she came to Tokyo.

“Also, you don’t intend to become a battle magician.”

“...Right.”

“Then offensive magic has low priority. More importantly, what you can gain from the club activities during your high school years takes priority.”

“What I can gain from club activities?”

“With club activities based around exercise you foster physical strength, the foundation of everything.”

A convincing line from Katsuto who has an overly burly physique. But it was so self-evident that it dampened the mood.

“But even more important are the friends that transcend the borders of class and grade.“

“Friends that transcend the borders...”

No matter what happens, lessons are held as a class of a certain year. Not being able to make friends that exceed those borders, like seniors or juniors, if you don’t join a club was a good observation. Alisa also knew this from experience from her middle school years. She had been part of the go home club through all of middle school, not involving herself in any student council or committee activities, so her circle of friends didn’t expand beyond those of the same school year.

“But I don’t think it is necessary for me to explain this at this point.”

“No, it is not. Thank you very much.”

Katsuto’s encouragement to ‘make friends’ is similar to the ‘make connections’ that Yuuto told her when she consulted him about the Public Morals Committee. 

For the Ten Master Clans, who lead magician society, this may be an important thing that must always be in the back of one’s mind.

Bu even for Alisa, who has no intentions of carrying out the role of member of the Ten Mater Clans, ‘make friends’ and ‘make connections’ are essentially the same thing. ‘I’m fine as long as I have Marika’ is not acceptable. — Alisa knew that.

And during her conversation with Katsuto, Alisa realized one more thing.