~ Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters on my Patreon
<><><><>
"Gurgle gurgle!" Touko Aozaki's mouth gaped as the pale green nutrient fluid poured into her stomach, a wave of intense nausea washing over her.
However, her attention was now entirely focused on the silver-haired youth lounging on the beige leather sofa before her, his gaze sweeping over her.
Despite his slender frame, he radiated an aura of strength.
His skin was as fair as a baby's, his delicate features almost girlishly beautiful.
If not for the aura of divine, resolute power clinging to him and his short, silver hair, Touko Aozaki would have mistaken him for a young woman.
Though his demeanor was entirely different, the young man's face was identical to the one she'd seen in the academic building that evening.
"How did you find me?" Touko forced down her rising panic, her voice cold.
This magical workshop was her secret sanctuary, a place even her mentor, Inorai, knew nothing of. Otherwise, she wouldn't have hidden her true body here.
And now, a man—a magus, no less—had appeared in her secret hideout. She knew, with a sinking feeling, that she was cornered.
"Everyone leaves a trail in this world. I simply followed yours. To be blunt, I found you through the Counter Force's records—" Haru replied with a cheerful smile, unbothered by her question.
He was in a good mood, and he had Touko to thank for it.
Let's not forget, Touko was currently submerged in nutrient fluid, her graceful figure, her ample bust, and the area beneath her orange hair, all on full display, reflected in Haru's eyes.
Any man on the receiving end of such a generous eyeful—would be in a good mood. And Haru considered himself a normal man.
"How???!" Touko's pupils contracted, her expression strange.
To directly access information from the Counter Force—as a Grand-level magus, she'd never heard of such a feat.
Wait, a magus?
"A True Magic User?" Touko's expression turned exceptionally grave, each word a heavy weight on her tongue. Her orange eyes held an unshakeable fear.
As the granddaughter of a True Magic User, she understood the concept all too well. They were beings of a different dimension from mages.
They were monsters.
"According to those guys at the Mage's Association, I'm the fifth one in existence," Haru nodded, confirming Touko's suspicion with a grin.
Touko's lip twitched.
The Fifth True Magic User was the last person she wanted to deal with right now.
She'd read the Clock Tower tabloids. This True Magic User was involved in an—impure relationship with the current head of the Barthomeloi family.
What chance did she have against him?
Escape?
Suicide? Both were likely impossible.
Haru shifted, finding a more comfortable position. He raised his right hand, and a cup of hot coffee materialized in it.
Taking a sip, he said casually, "To be honest, I feel kind of bad for you."
Touko's eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the coffee in his hand. "No trace of magical energy, no formula, no equivalent exchange—creation from nothing? Is this True Magic?" she murmured.
"Honestly, if I hadn't mentioned that the puppets you create are similar to my Fourth Magic, you probably wouldn't have been slapped with a Sealing Designation," Haru said, looking at Touko with pity.
This was the tragedy of being weak.
A single, careless comment from him had set off a chain reaction, resulting in Touko being targeted for sealing, forced into a life on the run.
Though Touko was always fated for this, let's not forget that in the original timeline, she'd managed to escape unscathed. Now, however, her workshop had been raided by the Faculty of Law, her puppets likely abandoned in her escape.
Her luck couldn't have been worse...
"So—it was you who screwed me over."
Hearing his words, Touko's expression darkened. Even with her years of self-hypnosis and forced composure, she couldn't control the twitching of her face.
Her situation was far worse than Haru imagined.
Creating puppets identical to herself, practically human, was no easy feat.
Her collected materials had been confiscated, and the only puppet she'd managed to create had been sacrificed in a mutual-destruction gambit with Kellar.
Now, she didn't even have a change of clothes.
The reason was simple:
Haru, curious about Touko's puppet technology, had thoroughly looted her private hideout, even taking cell samples for his own research.
In Touko's eyes, the magical tools that should have filled her underground sanctuary, worth tens of millions of dollars, were gone. Even the materials she'd prepared for her next puppet had vanished into thin air. Besides her nutrient tank, all her possessions had disappeared.
"How could you be so shameless?" Touko said, a humorless smile on her face.
She now truly understood the meaning of 'scraping the bottom of the barrel'. Despite possessing the power of creation from nothing, he'd still looted the workshop of a mere magus, not even leaving her a single hair.
"That's not important. What's important is, do you want to live?" Haru asked, his expression calm.
Letting Touko go had been his plan from the start. After all, the grand drama of Mahoyo still needed its star. But to let her go just like that… Haru felt like he was getting the short end of the stick.
"Oh? So you want my puppet technology? Sorry, I can't teach you," Touko said, her eyes narrowing, her expression suddenly calm.
From Haru's looting of her workshop, she deduced that he was after her puppet technology. And though it might sound like boasting, her puppet technology was at the pinnacle of the modern era, perhaps even of all time.
It wasn't surprising that a True Magic User would be interested in her techniques. However, her ability to replicate herself was a fluke, a technique she herself didn't fully understand. Even if she wanted to teach him, she couldn't.
And lying to a True Magic User, pretending she could teach him, would only lead to a swifter death. So, Touko laid her cards on the table.
Haru raised an eyebrow, about to speak, but Touko continued. "Based on my deductions, it's a technique achieved through a combination of my bloodline, my Mystic Eyes, and even my Origin. Even with True Magic, it should be impossible to replicate, right?"
Realizing Touko had misunderstood, assuming he wanted her to teach him puppet technology, Haru's lips curved into a wicked smirk. He went along with her line of reasoning. "Since it's a bloodline-based technique, then let's use the Lord families' method, shall we?"
Touko froze, her face darkening. As Inorai's student, she had been to the Sealing Designation room. She'd seen the female mages, used as breeding tools. Otherwise, she wouldn't have fled the moment she heard she'd been designated for sealing.
"Hmm, as for compensation, besides letting you leave London safely, I'll also return the tools and funds confiscated by the Faculty of Law, as well as the equipment in this hideout," Haru said with a cheerful smile.
"Using what was originally mine as compensation?" Touko raised an eyebrow, her gaze icy as she stared at Haru.
"That's right. So, what's your opinion?" Haru nodded, his expression calm.
Touko stared at Haru, her expression cold. After a long moment, she fell into thought.
<><><><>
Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters
https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)