"Even if you tell me to cut only the soul... Why me? That kind of technique-like stuff is the territory of you sorcerers."
"Toji-kun, I know perfectly well that you stole 'it', you know?"
"...Tch. You have a needlessly diligent personality."
Such an exchange was taking place in the living room of the Fushiguro household, the morning after the children's first battle.
"If it's that sword, if you can see it, you can cut it, right? I figured you could see it, Toji-kun."
"Souls? Well, I see something like that... Those twins' souls are connected by something like an umbilical cord. Is that what I'm cutting?"
"What's that? So the souls aren't one. ...Well, it was a hypothesis, I guess I missed."
"What, was it different from what you thought? It looks like that to my eyes."
"I guess so. I thought it was one soul. So two are connected... Well, whatever. It's better than cutting them in half. For the reward, separate from the year-end trip, I'll take you to Macau this month."
"...No, even if you take me, what about money?"
"Greedy. I'm paying for Macau."
"...Fine, I'll take that deal. If all I have to do is chop that umbilical cord, it's a steal."
"Just asking, though, what happens if you cut the soul?"
"Why ask me? You're the one who brought it up. ...It's just a hunch, but cutting something of that level won't do much. When I cut, I'm cutting the root on Maki's side."
"I don't get it? Why is that okay?"
"If she's like me—the body ranks higher than the soul. Even if the soul is cut somewhat, if the body is intact, it will regenerate. To the state where the umbilical cord is severed, naturally. As for Mai, well, she'll probably just end up with a weird soul with a tail attached, won't she? Even if the shape is weird, there's nowhere for the cursed energy to leak, so it should stabilize."
"I see. Souls are hard to understand, huh."
"I don't understand them either, I just see them. More importantly, I'm gonna chop it now, so don't forget Macau."
As Toji said that and tried to leave Naoya's presence, Naoya watched him go for a split second. However, the moment Toji pulled the Split Soul Katana out of his inventory cursed spirit, Naoya's 'Good Deed' sensor and 'Gentleman' radar blared warnings, causing him to panic and stop him.
"No, wait, are you doing it in front of the kids!? Wait a sec, or I'll 'Freeze' you."
"...You're overprotective."
-----
And then, the day after that exchange. Yuki Tsukumo, who had emergency returned from Zambia after being contacted, was crumpling Maki in a hug.
"Stop it, cheating woman!? Who are you!?"
"Wonderful! Physical strength incomparable to before! This is amazing! Isn't it exactly the same as Fushiguro-kun!?"
"Let, me, gooooo!?"
Peerless Herculean strength due to a fully awakened Physical Gifted. Although Maki had become able to display power far beyond common sense, she was ultimately a four-year-old.
For Yuki, who could reinforce her body with cursed energy, it was easy to suppress the flailing girl and hug her tightly.
However, seeing Maki struggling while buried in breasts due to that passionate hug, even Naoya felt pity—and jealousy towards the situation of being buried in big breasts—and threw a warning at Yuki.
"Tsukumo-san, seriously, Maki-chan might really hate you soon. Release her."
"Ah. ...No, sorry, sorry. It just happened."
"Don't give me 'it just happened'!?"
"I said I'm sorry. ...So, Naoya-kun. I heard the rough outline, but how did this happen?"
Yuki's expression as she asked that held a relatively pure question, asking for the sequence of events. Well, that was in a sense natural. Even to Yuki's eyes, until the other day, Maki Zen'in was just an 'occasionally seen ordinary Physical Gifted'.
And Naoya's reply to that question was:
"Originally, it was for Mai-chan. Cursed energy was leaking constantly. I thought it was strange, so yesterday I called Toji-kun, we talked, and split the souls."
"I'm super curious about the second half. Souls? Can you split them? Something like that."
"They had become like cherries, so we cut the stem part."
"Hah? No, how?"
"Forcibly, with a Zen'in Special Grade Cursed Tool. It's called the 'Split Soul Katana'."
"Eh, that wasn't just a ridiculously sharp sword? That's how it was treated in the literature."
"Toji-kun was saying that if you can see the soul, you can cut anything."
"I see, so you cut the connection of the souls, and then this happened. By the way, is Mai-chan safe?"
"Well yeah, she's playing next door right now. Her cursed energy increased, so she's frolicking."
"I see. ...Man, but now that it's come to this, I really have to be Maki-chan's master seriously. In exchange, cooperate with my research, okay?"
"...Don't slack off, cheating woman."
"You have a foul mouth. Isn't that Fushiguro-kun's bad influence?"
"Isn't personality genetic? For the Zen'in. Including me, Toji-kun, and my old man, all our personalities are doomed."
"What is that terrible Inherited Technique?"
Two Special Grade Sorcerers exchanged such conversation. Amidst that, suddenly, Yuki voiced a doubt.
"By the way, where is Fushiguro-kun? Pachinko again today?"
"No, government office. None of them have one. Passports. We're going to Macau this month."
"Macau...? What for?"
"To spend lavishly at the casino. With my money. Truly a pain."
Naoya's back looked sooty as he recalled the figure of Toji, who had unusually woken up early and headed to the government office in high spirits, and Yuki was at a loss for words.
In the somewhat awkward atmosphere, only the good girl Tsumiki and the young Megumi were honestly thinking about the family trip, eyes shining with a travel magazine titled 'Macau' in hand.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]