Just as Leo and Yuuki Asuna were formally meeting Miyamoto Musashi at the manor and entering special training at her urging, Yukinoshita Yukino was also sent to the Yukinoshita Family by a driver Retainer.
It was a luxurious mansion, though not quite as grand as Leo's manor.
After Yukinoshita Yukino alighted from the stretched limousine, she was welcomed into the mansion by the household servants and proceeded to the living room.
There were only two people there: one was Yukinoshita Haruno, who bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Yukinoshita Yukino but had a more mature figure and appearance, and the other was an even more mature and voluptuous beautiful woman, dressed in a kimono, exuding an extraordinary aura.
"Mom..."
Yukinoshita Yukino thought she had prepared herself mentally, but when she saw her mother, the timidity she had never shown in front of others in the past involuntarily surfaced.
"You're here?"
Yukinoshita's mother looked at her youngest daughter, a fleeting complexity and doubt flashing in her eyes before returning to calm.
"Since you're here, sit down."
At Yukinoshita's mother's beckoning, Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her lips, and after a moment, walked over and sat down in front of Yukinoshita Haruno.
Yukinoshita Haruno said nothing, merely scrutinizing her sister, whom she knew to her very core, as if trying to discern something from her, her eyes flickering slightly.
The three women, clearly mother and daughters, sat together. Despite being inseparable by blood, none of them spoke, allowing an indescribable silence to first spread between them.
Yukinoshita Yukino, uncharacteristically, seemed a bit impatient and spoke in a feigned calm tone.
"Where's Dad? Why isn't he here?"
Hearing this, Yukinoshita's mother raised her eyelids, also breaking the silence.
"Your father hasn't been in Chiba recently, so we didn't tell him about you."
This was almost explicitly telling Yukinoshita Yukino that she had no allies here.
Because Yukinoshita Yukino's father was a very kind person, a stark contrast to her strong-willed mother, Yukinoshita Yukino had always had a good relationship with her father.
Now, with her father absent, Yukinoshita Yukino could be said to be completely isolated and helpless.
However, this was not beyond Yukinoshita Yukino's expectation.
After all, she knew very well that her father was actually henpecked, and he himself had married into the Yukinoshita Family, so Yukinoshita's mother was the true helmsman of the Yukinoshita Family.
Yukinoshita's mother was strong-willed and a woman of her word; even Yukinoshita Haruno held her in awe, let alone Yukinoshita Yukino.
In the past, Yukinoshita Yukino had always been unable to defy her strong-willed mother's commands. Conversely, her mother was also Yukinoshita Yukino's Achilles' heel due to her stubborn personality, which is why Yukinoshita Yukino decided to move out of her family home and live alone.
But even so, in Yukinoshita's mother's eyes, she always seemed to be just an immature person.
"I've heard everything from Haruno," Yukinoshita's mother said, her gaze filled with doubt as she looked at Yukinoshita Yukino, "To be honest, I'm not very willing to believe such foolishness."
"My own daughter actually turned into a devil. If Haruno hadn't come back and told me so emphatically, I really wouldn't want to spend time on this today."
"But since things have come to this, let me confirm it for now."
Yukinoshita's mother looked directly at Yukinoshita Yukino and said.
"Is what Haruno said true? You really became the Retainer of a third-year senior from your school?"
Clearly, whether it was the matter of devils or servants, both were utterly preposterous to Yukinoshita's mother.
If she weren't certain that her eldest daughter wouldn't joke with her about such absurd things, Yukinoshita's mother would truly believe that today's conversation was completely meaningless.
And even so, Yukinoshita's mother initially refused to believe such a thing, until Yukinoshita Haruno brought up one matter... "Do you remember what strange thing we encountered on the first day of school?"
At that time, Yukinoshita Haruno had only said this one sentence, which stirred Yukinoshita's mother's memory.
She certainly remembered that day; on the way to take her youngest daughter to school, she almost hit someone, and before she could even react, something incredible happened.
That day, she shivered in the car from the sudden extreme cold, her eldest daughter was also freezing, the car's tires were frozen, and the street they were on showed unexplained freezing phenomena everywhere. Everyone present, without exception, caught severe colds or even suffered frostbite.
Only one person was completely unharmed, able to run and jump, not to mention freezing, she didn't even feel the slightest cold.
This person was her youngest daughter, Yukinoshita Yukino.
"At the time, they said we happened to encounter an extreme weather phenomenon, but is there really such a coincidence in this world?" Yukinoshita Haruno added, "Even if there is such a coincidence, why were we all frozen, but Yukino was completely fine?"
This itself was a puzzling point, leaving people completely perplexed.
It was also due to this doubt that Yukinoshita's mother, after much deliberation, decided to provisionally believe Yukinoshita Haruno and called Yukinoshita Yukino back for a confrontation.
However, Yukinoshita Yukino did not answer Yukinoshita's mother's question immediately, but after a moment of silence, she turned to Yukinoshita Haruno.
"You've been in contact with people from the Church?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's counter-question, rather than an answer, made Yukinoshita's mother frown and also surprised Yukinoshita Haruno.
"Is that important?"
Yukinoshita Haruno also responded with a question, showing no intention of relinquishing the initiative.
"Did you seek them out? Or did they seek you out?"
Yukinoshita Yukino, however, was persistent about the answer to this question, causing Yukinoshita's mother to interrupt her.
"Don't change the subject when we're discussing serious matters," Yukinoshita's mother said very sternly, "When did you learn to answer questions with questions? We are asking you now!"
Under Yukinoshita's mother's stern reprimand, Yukinoshita Yukino's hand gripping her skirt tightened involuntarily, almost making her compromise.
Years of habit made it difficult for her to rebel against her strong-willed mother, to the point where her hands were trembling slightly.
If no one else were present, Yukinoshita Yukino might have given up and honestly answered her mother's and sister's questions.
Unfortunately, they were not the only three present.
"How long are you going to hide?" Yukinoshita Yukino suddenly turned her head, looking towards the living room balcony, and said with a cold face, "Do I have to spell it out for you before you're willing to come out?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's words stunned both Yukinoshita Haruno and Yukinoshita's mother.
"What are you saying..."
Just as Yukinoshita's mother was about to say something with a hint of anger, a figure squeezed in from outside the balcony.
"As expected of an Erigor Family Retainer, even without the Erigor Family bloodline, she's still very skilled in the magical application of detection."
Accompanied by a soft chuckle, the nun, who had recently engaged in a skirmish, walked in.
Who else could it be but Sharon Holygreil?
"Who are you?"
Yukinoshita's mother immediately stood up, looking at the suddenly appearing Sharon with a face full of shock.
"You were hiding in my house?"
Yukinoshita Haruno also stood up, but she was somewhat angry.
"It really is you," Yukinoshita Yukino was the third to stand, her eyes on Sharon cold, as if equally provoked, saying, "You actively approached my family, which is why they know all this, isn't it?"
Hearing this, Sharon let out a joyful laugh.
"I just wanted to tell your mother and sister that their family member has become a filthy devil, and they should be careful."
At these words, Yukinoshita Yukino laughed in extreme anger.
"No wonder that guy said you were troublesome, said you were unscrupulous; you really don't act like a nun at all," Yukinoshita Yukino said bluntly, "He really hit the nail on the head, didn't he? You couldn't do anything to him, so you decided to target his Retainers. How unsightly."
The smile on Sharon's face vanished instantly, just as it had when Leo had mocked her last time.
Yukinoshita Yukino stared back at the nun, her face completely devoid of any smile, so cold that the air in the living room grew heavy.
"You two..."
Just as Yukinoshita's mother and Yukinoshita Haruno were about to speak, Yukinoshita Yukino and Sharon, who had been glaring at each other, moved simultaneously.
"Swish!"
Sharon abruptly disappeared from her spot, suddenly appearing in front of Yukinoshita Yukino, and raising her leg, delivered a side-kick towards Yukinoshita Yukino's head.
The kick was swift and sudden, causing the air to whistle, indicating its force.
Unfortunately, Yukinoshita Yukino was already prepared and released her magic without a word.
"Bang!"
Sharon's powerful side-kick landed heavily on a suddenly risen ice wall, shattering it.
Yukinoshita Yukino immediately leaped backward, avoiding Sharon's kick, which had been slowed by the ice wall, and then mercilessly unleashed a freezing wind, shooting rapidly condensed ice shards at her opponent.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"... Sharon reacted immediately, moving her hands and feet in unison, delivering punches, palm strikes, and kicks at an incredibly fast speed, shattering the incoming ice shards one by one with astonishing agility, sending fragments of ice scattering across the living room.
Watching this scene, Yukinoshita's mother and Yukinoshita Haruno stood completely stunned.
"This... this..."
The surreal sight impacted their brains, causing the two originally shrewd and capable women to fall into a state of discomposure they would never have experienced before.
They were even more shocked when they saw Yukinoshita Yukino, with freezing winds swirling around her, continuously condensing and launching projectiles like ice shards, ice cones, ice blades, and ice pillars.
At this moment, the image of their somewhat timid yet stubborn youngest daughter in their hearts collapsed.