Under the pouring rain, Rin and Touko stood silently in the garden of the deep mountain cemetery, in front of that solitary grave.
"Actually, when I learned that the Magic Crest was to be given to Aoko, I understood exactly what kind of existence I was. 'Hmm, the heir of the Aozaki Family is indeed Aoko,' hehe, it sounds as if it was a surprise, but probably only Aoko believed it." Aozaki Touko said, as if mocking herself.
"Are you going to tell me?"
"Aren't we the same kind?"
"Hehe, indeed."
Perhaps at this moment, Rin was the only one in the world who could understand Aozaki Touko. This girl, who was isolated from the world before she was 18 and then betrayed her family to walk alone in the world after 18, truly needed someone to confide in.
"After understanding everything, I endured for twenty-three days, five hours, twenty minutes, and thirteen seconds. The moment the fourteenth second arrived, I completely lost consciousness and the ability to think. I just casually picked up a fruit knife from the table, and then used that fruit knife to kill a Magus. Heh, heh heh heh…"
Aozaki Touko leaned on the tombstone, laughing until her whole body trembled. This was probably the funniest comedic scene in the entire mystic world, a girl killing a Magus with a fruit knife.
Amidst Touko's laughter, which was more desolate than crying, Rin understood one thing: "So, even the act of killing him was him exerting an influence over you, using your emotions to gradually guide you until you had no choice but to kill him."
"…Heh heh heh… Ah ha ha ha…" Aozaki Touko didn't answer, but the complex emotions she couldn't hide in her skyward laughter already told Rin the answer.
Pain, sadness, sorrow, anger, deep-seated hatred, and helpless sighs… "Aoko inherited the Magic Crest of the Fifth Magic. The elders of the family were killed by the former heir, who then defected. In such a situation, what kind of world do you think Aoko will face?"
"…An innocent man is guilty only for his treasure."
"If the Magic Crest containing the seed of the Fifth Magic is not activated for a long time, sooner or later the Mage's Association will use various grand excuses to make a move on the Fifth Magic. Only by truly activating the Fifth Magic, making it truly Aoko's Magic, can Aoko be safe…"
"Therefore, you traveled all over the world to collect various powers, just to return and create an unprecedented huge threat and pressure for your sister Aoko, forcing her to activate the Fifth Magic in the face of crisis."
"No, even that is not enough." Aozaki Touko explained her plan with difficulty in her voice, "Simple pressure and life threats might make her think about giving up resistance, 'Then so be it,' 'This matter ends here.' That girl is always self-willed."
"Then what are you planning to do?"
"Find an indispensable person to Aoko, and kill him in front of Aoko."
"..."
Aozaki Touko's voice contained indescribable fatigue. Even though her heart was full of love for her sister, she had no choice but to deeply harm her sister with her own hands, provoke her hatred, and finally force the sisters into a life-or-death struggle, compelling Aoko to awaken and become the true Fifth Magus.
"I come back every year, and while conveniently cleaning up some rats that shouldn't be seen, I also observe whether Aoko can meet a boy who genuinely cares for her. Unfortunately, my willful, foolish sister really has no talent for romance," Touko said with a headache.
"..."
There was one, but unfortunately, I sent him off to be gay.
"There's not much time left to delay. When I return next year, I must act." Aozaki Touko regained her detached composure, saying calmly.
"Then who are you going to kill?"
Aozaki Touko said with a cold and ruthless tone, "Alice Kuonji."
Following Aozaki Touko's answer, a startling thunderbolt flashed across the sky! The rolling thunder seemed to accuse Aozaki Touko's cold-bloodedness and betrayal of her friend.
Rin looked at Aozaki Touko with some disbelief, and said, "You're going to kill Alice Kuonji?"
"That's right." Aozaki Touko affirmed, "Currently, the only one who holds an important place in Aoko's heart is Alice, her housemate who is both a teacher and a friend."
"Isn't Alice Kuonji your only true friend?"
"But Aoko is my only younger sister! And..." Aozaki Touko paused, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said, "I'll probably die by Aoko's hand later anyway. When that time comes, I'll apologize to Alice on the way to the afterlife."
Rin fell silent, and Touko had no intention of speaking further, as if signaling the end of their conversation, as the rain gradually lessened.
Finally, Rin couldn't help but speak up: "How do I feel like you've completely fallen into that old man's trap?"
"That's right," Aozaki Touko's voice was filled with an uncontrollable sense of frustration, "From the moment I was born, that old man calculated everything from beginning to end. From learning Magic in my childhood, to stepping through the traps he wove with his death at 18, finally becoming the fireworks for the birth of the new Fifth Magus, completely burning out and dissipating into the sky."
Helplessness, frustration. Aozaki Touko, hailed as a genius from birth, was actually cultivated as a tool from the moment she was born, a tool created for the birth of the new Fifth Magus. She reluctantly followed the plans laid out by the person she hated, step by step, but she couldn't break free. Not because she couldn't, but because she couldn't, unless she disregarded Aoko.
"Rin, let's make a deal," Aozaki Touko said, smiling as she turned to Rin, as if the two had known each other for a long time in an instant, like old friends.
"Go on, Touko," Rin returned her smile, looking at her.
"Do me a favor. For the next year, help me protect Aoko's safety. Although Alice is there, I'm still not at ease; she's not an action-oriented person after all. As compensation..." Aozaki Touko pulled a folded, old yellow paper from her lapel and threw it to Rin.
Rin unfolded the yellow paper. On it was a spiderweb-like black mark, as if burned, with lines of varying thickness. To an ordinary person, it would just be a piece of waste paper.
Of course, Rin didn't think that. With Rin's discerning eye, she understood what it was the first moment she saw it!
"This is a distribution map of the misaki leyline. Although I don't know what you need a leyline for, I know that Aoko girl is definitely not material for managing this kind of thing. This rare off-center leyline is yours to use as you please. I think this way you won't just casually leave Misaki," Touko said, smiling at the surprised Rin.
She just gave me the misaki leyline like that!? This is a large leyline comparable to Fuyuki's underground leyline, practically an "infinite source of magical power"! If the conditions were right, another Holy Grail War could even be started here!
At this moment, Touko threw another scroll to Rin, "This is a summary of human engineering that I've been researching since I first started learning Magic. I am a Puppet Master. Recently, I made an interesting discovery during my research that might break the modern Magecraft world's understanding of the limits of a Puppet Master, but I might not have the time for it."
"I'm giving it to you, hoping you can complete it for me. It was truly a pleasure to meet you. It's the happiest day I've had since Aoko's 16th birthday. Goodbye..."
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