Touya, who had been designated as the next head of the Mutsutsuka family, had also received an invitation. Up until just before the turn of the year, he had been staying at the Niigata house, but with the new year came a move to the Mutsutsuka family's secondary residence in Tokyo. There, he lived alongside his already designated fiancées, Atsumi Igarashi and Mia Hongo (whose true name was Michaela Hongo).
The letter arrived at almost the exact same time as the ones sent to the Shiba and Mitsuya households.
"...Touya-kun, what does the letter say?"
"It states that a meeting will be held this coming Sunday at the Association's Kanto Branch in Yokohama. Supposedly, it's a discussion regarding the Anti-Magic Movement, but I can't quite bring myself to accept that at face value."
"Why is that?"
Touya stood in the living room, staring down at the letter. He answered Atsumi's question while still wearing an expression of unmistakable skepticism. Right on cue, Michaela walked in from the kitchen carrying a tray laden with a teapot and cups of fresh tea, chiming in with a question of her own.
"It's one thing for the head-class leaders to waste time probing one another's motives without making concrete progress, but what on earth do they expect a bunch of youngsters like us to pull off?" Touya mused. "I don't imagine anything good will come of this."
"I see. That certainly sounds far too roundabout for Jumonji-kun. If that's the case, I have a feeling Mayumin's family might be pulling the strings behind the scenes."
"I'm not well-versed enough in the situation to say one way or another, but..." Mia offered hesitantly.
"Don't worry about it, Mia-chan. You were originally from the States, after all."
Taking the teacup from Michaela, Touya blew gently on it and took a small sip before letting out a soft sigh.
The single reason he remained so suspicious was simple: had Katsuto truly been the sole mastermind behind this, Touya calculated that he would have structured it as a friendly gathering—using a community centered around the younger generation of the Master Course's Twenty-Eight Families as a launching pad to solidify the future Ten Master Clans conference system.
The fact that it had not taken that form made it glaringly obvious that someone else's intentions were influencing the event, meaning Atsumi's suggestion was a very real possibility.
"The two of you might not be aware," Touya continued, "but most direct-line offspring of the Master Course end up working for companies affiliated with their families. Even my older sister worked as an employee at a firm where the Mutsutsuka family held shares right up until she assumed the position of head."
To Touya, it was common knowledge that even among direct-line lineage blending into normal society, not every magician operated in the public eye.
No matter how much magic was positioned as a matter of national policy, its inherent secrecy and the 'unseen fear' it inspired inevitably bred dread among the non-magician majority. Left unchecked, it could easily trigger a modern resurgence of the medieval witch hunts.
"Is that so... Say, Touya-kun. If this is a measure against the Anti-Magic Movement, why is a key family missing?"
"Ah, I see. You mean the Chiba family—Erika's household. (Though this time they've restricted the target group strictly to the Twenty-Eight Families and the Two Guardian Families... there shouldn't be any issue with them attending as observers)."
It was true that during the Zhou Gongjin incident, the Ten Master Clans had acted openly, but the police had also conducted their own independent operations, leading to a resolution where the police officially made the arrest. Every child of the Chiba family was under thirty years old; surely there would be no issue whatsoever if the eldest son, Toshikazu—a active police officer himself—were to attend as an observer.
"...So, Touya-kun, do you plan to attend?"
"I believe I should. It's just an intuition of mine, but I have a bad feeling they intend to adopt an idol-like public appeal strategy to counter the Anti-Magic sentiment."
The fact that such a direction was being pushed made it impossible for Touya to believe this meeting would involve a sane, sound debate. If they intended to force the meeting forward using peer pressure, Touya voiced the single outcome he deemed most probable.
"You mean... magicians singing and dancing?"
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