Even though she had never cared much about the Soga clan's affairs.
But... Soga Yuzu was still aware that the Soga clan had many branch families.
And—
many of those branch families were not on good terms with the main family.
While they all put on smiling faces, behind the scenes, they were always covetously eyeing everything the main family possessed.
They wished for nothing more than to tear a piece of flesh right off the main family's back.
The old Soga Yuzu would have been happy to see the Soga clan's dogs biting each other, but... the situation now was just a tiny bit different.
She had just confirmed... that Soga Yura was perhaps not as cold and unapproachable as she appeared on the surface.
On the contrary—
that girl might just be a tsundere, the hot-and-cold type of character rarely seen even in modern anime.
That changed the situation completely.
Soga Yuzu looked at the orange-haired girl before her.
She couldn't muster even a shred of goodwill.
Although the girl appeared polite and well-behaved, and had even promptly stopped her companions' malicious remarks,
but... no one was a fool.
At best, those lackeys were merely her claws and fangs—her dogs.
If a dog barks wildly at you, it is a failure of the master's discipline.
What's more... those words were likely things these sycophants had heard from their own master.
Originally, Soga Yuzu had wanted to just say, "Which branch family did you crawl out of, you weirdo?"
Soga Yuzu usually wouldn't even bother with such annoying characters who were just asking for trouble.
However—
seeing the arrogance on the girl's face, Soga Yuzu suddenly became curious about what gave her the confidence to provoke her.
An unusual silence fell over the training hall.
Countless eyes turned towards Soga Yuzu.
"Is that..."
"Yuzu-senpai?"
"The one standing in front of Yuzu-senpai... isn't that the genius freshman from the Assault Department?"
"Her name is... Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi?"
"I hear she's already reached the First Sequence."
"Oh no... she's from the Soga family." A kouhai who admired Soga Yuzu already had a worried expression on her face.
At Keigunen Private Academy, the relationship between Soga Yuzu and the Soga family was no secret.
The Soga clan was a clan of mental-type Espers.
For Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi, the other students' whispers were not difficult to hear.
The girl proudly lifted her chin in front of Soga Yuzu.
Like a red-headed duck preening its feathers.
Soga Yuzu's smile grew increasingly wicked.
Listening to the nearby students' chatter, Soga Yuzu roughly understood the source of the girl's arrogance.
A First Sequence Esper, huh~
Impressive, truly impressive.
"My father is Soga Ishikawa Irube," the girl said, looking at Soga Yuzu.
"My name is Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi."
Soga Yuzu raised an eyebrow. "So, a little sister from the Ishikawa family."
To put it simply, the other party was a girl from the Ishikawa family, a branch of the Soga clan, and her name was Kiyomi.
Hmm—
Kiyomi. Also a type of citrus.
What a malicious sense of humor.
Compared to the name "Yuzu," a fruit that is fragrant but overly sour and has little flesh, with only its juice being plentiful.
A wild citrus often only used as a flavoring agent.
A kiyomi... is much more delectable.
Seeing Soga Yuzu's nonchalance, Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi clenched her fists tightly within her sleeves.
What right does this failure have?
Awakening her ability at the late age of seventeen, she was just lucky enough to be born into the main family.
Compared to Soga Yura, who was so dazzling that people dared not even look at her directly... Soga Yuzu did indeed seem much shabbier.
But... if they met at the Soga family estate, she would still have to bow and scrape before her.
"So, little sister Kiyomi, is there something you need from me?" Soga Yuzu's lips curled into a smile.
The pride of these branch family members... what interesting toys they were.
[Ding—] The mechanical woman's voice rang out at the opportune moment.
[Part 6 - Revealing Your Edge]
[As you begin to reveal your edge, you will surely encounter many obstacles.]
[So... let's start by clearing the first obstacle: defeat Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi.]
[Make the Soga clan remember your name—]
[Mission Requirement: Defeat Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi. You will be scored based on the process of her defeat.]
[Mission Reward: Rewards will be granted based on the score received.]
At this moment—
in Soga Yuzu's eyes, the long, orange-haired girl was no longer a red-headed duck or some annoying mob from a game.
She was a treasure chest!
A walking treasure chest!
A sparkling treasure chest!
She didn't even know what the rewards would be, but in any case—
Soga Yuzu was already getting excited.
"Next month is Lady Yura-neesama's birthday. Kiyomi just came to remind you, Yuzu-neesan..." The girl maintained her smile. "Don't forget."
Behind her, the other girls deliberately laughed, "That's Lady Soga Yura's eighteenth birthday."
"Lady Kiyomi, you must be joking..."
"How could the Soga family possibly let such a failure..."
Before they could finish speaking, a scabbard flew past the girl's face.
Her brown eyes widened.
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi's expression suddenly turned cold.
"Yuzu-neesan..."
"While their words were somewhat improper... there's a saying: 'Even when you beat a dog, you must consider its master.'"
The girl stood before Soga Yuzu, her long orange hair seeming to lift as if moved by an unfelt wind.
She glanced behind her.
The other girl was dazedly reaching up to touch her face, her fingertips meeting warm, wet blood.
"Slap yourself," Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi said, still wearing that seemingly harmless smile.
"Yes..."
Slap, slap—
She turned back to Soga Yuzu, who was holding a tachi. "Yuzu-neesan..."
The dagger was drawn.
"Tch—" Just then, a woman's scoff came from behind Soga Yuzu.
"Consider the master?"
"And you think you're worthy?"
"What a joke."
Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi was about to retort angrily when her gaze was captured by the excessively lewdly dressed woman behind Soga Yuzu.
Those blood-red eyes made Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi feel as if she had been plunged into hell for an instant.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Fear crept into her heart.
She seemed to see crimson beasts, bodies lowered and fangs bared, surrounding her completely, their throats emitting threatening growls.
The surging killing intent made her feel as if she had been cast into an icy cavern.
That woman... that woman was an Esper of the Third Sequence or higher.
How could this be!?
That failure Soga Yuzu actually had the backing of an Esper of the Third Sequence or higher.
The Soga clan was a clan of mental-type Espers.
And mental-type Espers... when faced with the aura of a superior Esper, were both the most resilient and the most prone to collapse.
"Ngh—" A whimper escaped the girl's throat.
Soga Yuzu gently stepped in front of Kujou Katora.
Kujou Katora looked at Soga Yuzu in astonishment.
Although... her killing intent wasn't aimed at Soga Yuzu at all, for Soga Yuzu to stand directly in front of her like this, she would still have to endure some degree of mental pressure.
But the girl showed no signs of abnormality whatsoever.
On this point alone, she had already crushed the so-called First Sequence Esper across from them.
"This is a Soga family matter. Please let me handle it myself."
Soga Yuzu smiled at Kujou Katora.
In front of an 'outsider', Kujou Katora gave Soga Yuzu enough face, acting as docile as a large cat.
She shot a fierce glare at Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi before retracting her aura and standing attendance behind Soga Yuzu.
Thump, thump—
The girls behind Soga Ishikawa Kiyomi collapsed into each other's arms.
Soga Yuzu smiled sweetly. "Little sister Kiyomi~"
"Was there anything else you wanted to say?"
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