Chapter 205: The Battle of Wits

Under Mika’s instruction, Charlotte was forced to grip a wooden sword and stand in the Kendo Club’s dojo, performing tedious swinging exercises like a beginner.

If she slacked off even slightly, the sharp-eyed Mika would immediately correct her, using her restless hands to grope Charlotte all over.

It seemed Mika had accepted the request to train her just so she could do this.

Under Mika’s supervision, Charlotte, wanting to avoid giving Mika any excuse to touch her, had to use all her strength to swing the wooden sword.

Heah! Hah! Why! Do! I! Have! To! Do! This!

Although Charlotte practiced diligently on the outside, she was full of unvented grievances on the inside.

She was the strongest Star Witch in the world! Why did she have to do completely unrelated sword training in a place like this?

She had already mastered dozens of schools of magic from the other world; what need was there to learn swordsmanship?

If she hadn’t promised Yukina not to use magic freely at school, requiring Yukina’s permission first, she wouldn’t have been suppressed by that girl named Ibufu Yoruya yesterday.

‘But speaking of which, if I could surpass Yukina in swordsmanship too, I wonder what kind of delicious expression she would make?’

As if struck by some strange thought, Charlotte’s resentment vanished instantly, and she began to practice her swings with utter seriousness.

‘After all, I’m a genius! I learned complex things like magic in a flash; there’s no reason I can’t figure out something as simple as swordsmanship.’

‘Hmph, just you wait, Yukina! Watch your big brother master your specialty too!’

Perhaps due to exerting too much effort, large beads of sweat began to drip from Charlotte’s forehead.

Seeing Charlotte working so hard, Mika nodded in satisfaction. Without asking for permission, she raised her right hand and ruffled Charlotte’s hair.

“Excellent, Kanon-chan is working so hard! Keep practicing! As long as you keep pushing forward, the path will continue to extend, so don’t stop!”

Charlotte merely frowned slightly.

If this unrestrained woman would just hold back a little and stop touching her constantly, she would be much more willing to practice.

Afterward, Mika let Charlotte continue her swinging practice alone while she stood nearby, admiring the sight of Charlotte’s petite body working hard to swing the sword, as if she found the scene very appetizing.

At that moment, Yukina, having finished a sparring session with other members, walked over to Mika and struck up a conversation.

“Aiba Senior, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to slash your clothes. I just accidentally used too much force, and that happened.”

Mika just smiled casually at Yukina’s apology.

“Don’t worry about it, little sister Yukina. Being able to destroy my clothes in one strike proves that you are currently stronger than me! You should be excited about that!”

“What are you saying, Senior? I still have a long way to go! By the way, I never expected you to be a member of that Esper organization yesterday!”

“I didn’t expect you to show up at our secret base’s training ground either, little sister Yukina. Did you think the commotion over there was loud enough? Why did you come to our base yesterday?”

“Uh… that’s a complicated story to explain. Did your boss not tell you anything?”

Yesterday, Lillian transformed into a massive red dragon and burned the entire abandoned factory to ruins. Sakurako Aya and Qin Shion had witnessed it, and they should have reported this information to Ibufu Yoruya. But looking at Mika, it seemed she didn’t know what happened afterward.

“Oh, I haven’t spoken to her in detail yet. I’ll ask her later.”

“Um, there’s no need to go out of your way to ask her. We just accidentally cracked an underground pipe, which led to a gas explosion.”

Yukina quickly tried to cover it up. She had too many things to hide now.

Yoruya and the others already knew that Charlotte was the master Lillian had been searching for. If Aiba Senior found out, she would definitely think it was strange. Why would her “cousin” Kanon-chan be the master Lillian was so desperately looking for? Who exactly was Kanon-chan?

In short, to conceal Charlotte’s true identity, she had applied patch after patch, but now it was leaking everywhere. One wrong move, and people would realize she was full of lies.

However, Aiba Senior wasn’t a stranger. She might as well just tell her the truth about Charlotte. That way, she wouldn’t have to hold it all in so uncomfortably.

She would probably understand. After all, the existence of Espers was also something no one would believe if told.

“Alright, alright, the past is in the past. You don’t need to worry too much, little sister Yukina. I’m fine on my end. It’s you, Yukina, who must be exhausted! Your brother passed away in a car accident not long ago, and now you have to take care of a distant cousin. You must be having a hard time, Yukina!”

“Uh… I’m doing alright!” Yukina smiled awkwardly, not knowing why the topic had shifted back to Charlotte. “Taking care of her doesn’t take much effort. This girl can survive on her own even if she’s by herself.”

“Is that so? That makes sense, considering that child is your favorite brother, Yukina!”

“Right, right, right!” Yukina agreed instinctively, but then she realized her mistake and quickly tried to backtrack. “No, no, no, what are you talking about, Senior? My brother died in a car accident. How could that girl be my brother?”

“You can’t hide it from me, little sister Yukina! I’ve already investigated. This ‘sister’ of yours doesn’t actually exist. That means she’s a person who appeared out of nowhere. It’s quite obvious who she really is. If you don’t believe me, I can prove it to you right now.”

Saying this, Mika smiled and took out her phone, skillfully dialing a number. Not far away, Charlotte, who was practicing her swings, suddenly looked alert and pulled her phone from her pocket. Seeing the caller ID was Mika, she immediately turned her head with a vigilant expression and looked toward Mika.

“See? I was right!” Seeing Charlotte’s alert reaction, Mika gave a sly smile to the sweating Yukina beside her.

“Uh… Senior, you’re truly amazing…”

“Not at all. Your brother is much more amazing than me! To be able to escape the car accident designed by the ‘Chaos Bloom’ Esper organization and turn into such a cute and petite girl to blend in among us without anyone noticing… This level of wits is comparable to faking one’s own death!”

“No, that guy isn’t as amazing as you think, Senior… Wait a minute, what did you just say, Senior? The car accident my brother was in… was orchestrated by another Esper organization?”