"Mom! Mr. Asuka is a good person! He saved me!" Sumire hurriedly explained.
Asuka looked at the mother and daughter before him and sighed helplessly.
Even having experienced two otherworldly adventures himself, this kind of thing was hard to digest on short notice, let alone for ordinary citizens.
"Let's not worry about whether he's a human or a ghost for now."
He pointed toward the approaching wail of police sirens in the distance. "The police will be here any minute. If you don't want to be taken to the station to explain why you were taking a stroll on a blown-up pier, we'd better make a run for it."
Haruri froze for a moment, then snapped out of her daze.
"Right! The truck! My truck is still over there!"
Ten minutes later.
The light truck, plastered with cartoon stickers, was weaving through the streets of Fuyuki City at a near-insane speed.
Haruri Kamado gripped the steering wheel tightly, her foot practically flooring the gas pedal, clearly desperate to escape that place of trouble as quickly as possible.
Dead silence filled the cabin.
Having absorbed enough magical energy, Asuka was now able to maintain his physical form and sat cross-legged in the cramped backseat.
Sumire sat in the passenger seat, still tightly clutching the baseball bat she had brought for self-defense. From time to time, she stole glances through the rearview mirror at Asuka in the back and her mother's pale, grim face in the driver's seat.
"Mom..."
Sumire tried to break the suffocating silence.
"Shut up."
Haruri coldly cut her daughter off.
"We'll talk when we get home."
Those few words made Sumire immediately shrink her neck back and obediently shut her mouth.
Asuka leaned against the seat back, watching the night scenery rapidly recede outside the window, his gaze profound.
The amount of information tonight was simply too massive.
The combat capabilities of the various classes... that Berserker who was clearly a Soul Reaper... that evil aura resembling a Hollow...
It was all like a tangled mess of yarn wrapped around his heart.
But he knew that the first thing he had to resolve was the crisis facing this small family right in front of him.
The Kamado residence.
Tonight, the atmosphere here was even colder than the winter of Fuyuki City.
In the living room, Asuka, Haruri, and Sumire sat on the tatami mats in a three-way standoff.
Haruri had already treated the wound on her forehead and applied a bandage.
She now sat with her arms crossed, her peculiar right eye locked dead onto Asuka as if trying to see right through him.
"Alright, the doors are closed now, and there are no outsiders."
Haruri took a deep breath and launched the first attack. "Sumire, and this... Mr. Asuka, right?"
"Can someone explain to me what exactly happened tonight? What were those flying, lightning-shooting freaks?"
"And..." She pointed at Asuka and Sumire, who was shrinking back like a frightened quail. "Why were the two of you there?"
Sumire shrank back and looked at Asuka pleadingly.
Asuka picked up the teacup on the table and calmly took a sip.
"Good tea," he praised, even though he knew nothing about the art of tea.
Haruri had poured this tea subconsciously just moments ago. It seemed hospitality was etched into her DNA, even when facing a suspicious individual.
Now that he had materialized, he could also enjoy tea, incense, and hearty meals.
"Before I answer your questions, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you first."
Asuka set down the teacup and looked straight at Haruri.
"Ma'am, do you know about magecraft?"
"Magecraft?" Haruri frowned, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "You mean David Copperfield? Those dove-summoning tricks on TV?"
"No, those are just mortal parlor tricks, not magecraft." Asuka shook his head.
"Manipulating elements, twisting reality, summoning magical beasts... You can understand it as supernatural power."
"Huh? Have you been reading too many manga?" Haruri scoffed.
"Then do you know about the Holy Grail War?"
"No, it sounds like some delinquent gang brawl."
'Just as I thought,' Asuka realized.
It seemed that although the Kamado family still maintained the Breathing Styles lineage he was familiar with, they knew absolutely nothing about the world of magi.
Speaking of which, in the Era of Demons where Asuka lived, he had never heard of anything called magecraft either.
'Did these two different worlds intersect due to some special reason?'
"Then, one last question."
Asuka leaned forward slightly, his pitch-black eyes instantly locking onto Haruri's right eye.
"What is the deal... with that right eye of yours?"
Hearing this question, the previously aggressive Haruri suddenly stiffened.
She subconsciously raised her hand to cover her right eye, her gaze darting away evasively.
"W-What do you mean? It's just a little inflamed..."
"Stop pretending." Asuka exposed her without mercy. "When you grabbed Sumire at the school gate, and when we were dodging that Berserker at the docks, I felt it."
"There is an extraordinary fluctuation of magical energy in that eye. Although it's very faint and used crudely, it's definitely not a power an ordinary human should possess."
A brief silence fell over the living room.
Sumire also looked at her mother in surprise. "Mom? Isn't your eye... just heterochromia?"
Growing up, her mother's right eye had always looked cloudy to her, sometimes even changing into strange colors.
Her mother always claimed it was conjunctivitis or allergies, so Sumire had never paid much attention to it.
Haruri covered her eye, remaining silent for a long time.
Suddenly, she sheepishly lowered her hand, a bizarre blush appearing on her face.
It even carried a hint of... smugness?
"Ahem... Since you've found out, I won't hide it anymore."
Haruri puffed out her chest, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously:
"Actually... I'm an esper."
"Huh?" Asuka and Sumire voiced their confusion simultaneously.
"Oh, you know! Like Uri Geller! The kind who can bend spoons with telekinesis!"
Haruri grew more excited as she spoke, the smugness in her eyes intensifying. "Actually, I discovered I had this special ability when I was a kid. As long as I stare at things, sometimes I can make them move."
"Even though it doesn't work most of the time, it really helps when I'm moving cargo!"
"I always thought I was a mutant like the X-Men! I didn't expect you to see right through me... Hehe, it seems my disguise wasn't perfect after all."
Watching this middle-aged woman suddenly transition from a stern housewife to someone who never grew out of her chuunibyou phase, Asuka only felt a headache coming on.
"Um... Ms. Kamado."
Asuka rubbed his temples, ruthlessly shattering her fantasy. "As much as I hate to burst your bubble, that's not a superpower, nor is it a mutation."
"It's called 'Mystic Eyes'."
"Mystic Eyes?" Haruri blinked, looking bewildered.
Asuka explained based on the knowledge instilled in his mind by the Holy Grail. "Yes, it's a special ability in the world of magi."
"Mystic Eyes are divided into many ranks, and I'm not entirely clear on the classifications myself, but the one you possess should be a 'compulsion' or 'binding' type of Mystic Eye."
"Although its rank might not be too high, Mystic Eyes themselves are quite rare."
"Magi..." Haruri muttered to herself, seemingly disappointed by this setting. "So I'm not a mutant..."
"That's not the point..."
Asuka interrupted her sternly. "The point is, since you possess Mystic Eyes, it means you also have a certain aptitude for magecraft. Perhaps this also explains why Sumire was able to become a Master."
His wooden butterfly alone wasn't enough to forge a connection between them.
Perhaps there were unactivated Magic Circuits already present within Sumire Kamado's body.
"Master? What's that?" Haruri finally caught the keyword, her expression changing. "Does it have something to do with those monsters tonight?"
"Exactly."
Asuka took a deep breath, deciding to reveal the entire truth.
"Your daughter, Sumire Kamado, has been dragged into a deadly game called the Holy Grail War as a Master."