"Wait, Touko-nee-san, don't kill him... I still have things I want to ask this guy."
Shirou realized what was about to happen. He knew he couldn't stop it, but the words still slipped out on instinct.
"Oh my, Shirou, are you worried about me? I'm so happy~"
Touko Aozaki's lips curved in amusement. "Thanks for your hard work earlier. I'll reward you later, so be quiet for now, all right?"
I'm not worried about you, Shirou thought with a helpless sigh.
With the crisp click of high heels against concrete, Touko Aozaki walked past Shirou and stopped in front of the intruder, Cornelius Alba.
"I didn't lose to you, Aozaki."
The blond youth glared at her and shouted, "If that brat hadn't helped you, there's no way you could have beaten me. I am the greatest Puppet Master in the Clock Tower!"
Touko Aozaki shrugged, completely unconcerned.
"Think whatever you want, Alba. It's already six-thirty in the evening. Thanks to your nonsense, I've had to work overtime until now."
"...Six-thirty?"
Alba clearly remembered leaving Ogawa Apartment Complex at four in the afternoon and arriving at this building before five.
I've been in this apartment for an hour and a half?
Come to think of it, how did that red-haired brat get back here so quickly?
Before I arrived here... at five, he should still have been at the apartment with Shiki Ryougi! There's no way he could have reached this place in just a few minutes!
Seeing the confusion on her old classmate's face, Touko kindly explained.
"This is my workshop, you know? You didn't really think I'd have no countermeasures left just because you removed all the traps, did you? Not long after you stepped into this building, I used a mechanism to interfere with your consciousness a little..."
"!"
Alba's eyes widened. "When I was climbing the stairs..."
Touko nodded. "It's all thanks to my decision to use a half-finished abandoned building as my base. The inside is nothing but exposed concrete, with no markings anywhere, and the lighting is terrible. That's more than enough to throw off an intruder's sense of time. In short, I delayed you on the stairs. You stood there in a daze for a full hour."
Alba's expression twisted slightly. "So that's what happened..."
He did not want to admit it, but the facts were right in front of him. Touko Aozaki had played him completely.
Even while she was so sick she could barely stand, her skill as a Magus was still far above his.
"By the way, I actually saved you."
The silent boy, Shirou, suddenly cut in. "You thought you'd removed every trap inside Garan no Dou, but you never even noticed the biggest one."
"The biggest... trap?"
Alba looked at him suspiciously.
Shirou said calmly, "I mean Touko-nee-san herself. She has a trump card that activates through her own death. If that thing had gone off here, you and this entire building would have vanished from the world."
"..."
Touko glanced at the stunned Alba, then pouted in displeasure.
"Shirou, don't just expose a Magus's secrets to outsiders."
You weren't planning to leave him alive anyway, were you...? Shirou muttered under his breath.
Alba said, "You're lying... That's impossible... How could something like that exist...? Are you saying I was nothing but a clown from the very beginning?"
"Not exactly. I didn't expect to lose to you in a Magecraft battle just because I caught a cold, either. That really was outside my expectations, especially since I spent the hour you were spacing out making preparations. I have to admit it, Alba... you've become far better than you were ten years ago."
Touko spoke thoughtfully. "And just as Shirou said, if I made the whole building disappear just to kill you, the Association wouldn't overlook it. Then I'd be the one hunted by the Association. I worked hard to hide my whereabouts, so I'm not going to do anything that lets the Association find me."
"I see..."
Only then did the blond youth finally understand. The titles of "Strongest Puppeteer" and "Grand Rank" had not been exaggerated. Touko Aozaki's caliber and talent truly stood far above his own.
With despair on his face, he murmured, "Aozaki, are you going to kill me?"
"That's right."
"Why...?"
Alba could not understand. If this was revenge, then with her strength, she could have killed him at any time in the past.
They had clashed several times before. Looking back now, the only reason he had survived until today was because Touko Aozaki had shown him mercy.
But why? Why had she changed her mind now?
"It's nothing. As long as I'm alive, I've long since accepted both hating others and being hated. To be honest, the hatred you've carried since our academy days wasn't bad. It was proof of how outstanding I, Touko Aozaki, am."
"Then why?"
"It's simple. Because you called me by that name."
Touko Aozaki's elegant face was impossibly cold.
"It's a rule I set back in our academy days. Anyone who calls me 'Scarred Red' dies."
"I see."
Alba nodded thoughtfully.
Now he had only one question. How was Touko going to kill him?
She was extremely weak right now. There was no way she could use Magecraft strong enough to break through his defenses.
She could have the red-haired boy kill him, but with Touko's pride, she would never do that.
Alba stared at her, but Touko Aozaki did not even lift a finger.
She did not even chant.
"Earlier, the agency was packed with the monsters you brought, and there wasn't even anywhere to step. That's why I couldn't use this move."
The Orange Magus's high heels tapped against the floor.
"...She carved the letters with her feet!?"
Mystic runes appeared out of thin air. Runes blazed with light, following the path Touko had walked.
What astonishing skill and talent...
As he watched the Runes around him swell in an instant to the thousands, then the tens of thousands, Alba finally understood.
This was why Souren Araya had warned him not to provoke Touko.
And so, the second abbot of Sponheim Abbey vanished without a trace in a remote corner of the Far East.
...
...
Once the light, bright as daylight, faded, Cornelius Alba disappeared without a trace, as though he had never existed in this world at all.
"Ah... she killed him... and I was hoping to pry some information out of him."
Touko smiled gracefully. "Don't worry about the little details, Shirou! I've already grasped the general picture. I've even figured out who our real enemy is, and I have a rough idea of his goal."
"Oh, as expected of Touko-nee-san!"
Touko Aozaki headed toward the office, but halfway there, she suddenly stumbled. Shirou caught her on instinct.
When he looked down, Touko's face was deathly pale, and her forehead was covered in sweat.
"Oh my... It seems I overdid it a little just now."
"All right, we can talk later. For now, get back in bed."
Shirou lifted Touko into his arms.
"Shirou, you become especially gentle when you're dealing with someone sick."
"You make it sound like I'm usually harsh with you, Touko-nee-san."
Shirou placed Touko on the bed, then immediately went back to the kitchen to pour her a glass of water.
Touko did not take the medicine Shirou had brought. Instead, she instructed him to take a photograph from a drawer.
The background was the world-famous London landmark, the Clock Tower. Three people stood side by side beneath a gloomy sky that looked ready to snow at any moment.
One of them was Alba, whom Touko had just killed. The other two were Touko Aozaki in her younger days, and a man who looked burdened by some deep, bitter grudge.
The Orange Magus began to explain.
The true creator of Ogawa Apartment Complex was most likely a Magus named Souren Araya.
Like the vast majority of Magi, Souren Araya pursued the Swirl of the Root.
He was not born into a family of Magi. Instead, he was born into a family that followed the Tendai sect during Japan's era of warfare.
Even as a child, he was called a prodigy, and he had already shown talent in "Barriers."
After becoming a monk, he went to study at the head temple of the Tendai sect. During that time, he developed a powerful ideal of "saving all sentient beings."
Because of that, he began traveling from place to place to help people, crossing the country for the sake of saving lives.
But as he repeatedly witnessed the slaughter and destruction brought about by war, Souren Araya came to understand that he could never save everyone. After seeing so much human evil, he also began to question whether humanity was worth saving at all.
Feeling his own smallness and helplessness, he turned his back on his original Taimitsu faith and became a Magus.
In pursuit of the "Archetype of the Soul," he began to study. He collected death, interpreted the origins of human beings, and sought the Swirl of the Root, hoping to either understand humanity's value or bring an end to ugly, suffering mankind.
Souren Araya was like the very concept of Hell given form and self-awareness.
"A Shirou who went down the wrong path. That's more or less what Araya feels like, which is why I'm actually rather fond of him."
Touko grinned wickedly, earning a displeased glare from the boy.
"Souren Araya tried several times to open a path to The Root, but every attempt failed because of interference from the Counter Force. That must be why, this time, he chose to hide himself behind the scenes in order to avoid the Counter Force's interference."
"Sorry, Touko-nee-san, I don't understand what you're saying."
Shirou asked, "Why are we talking about The Root? What necessary connection is there between Ogawa Apartment Complex and reaching The Root?"
"Souren Araya has a special ability that even I can't match."
Touko said, "He can see a person's 'origin.' A man who can see human 'origins,' who was cast out by his master for pursuing the prototype of the soul... And now he has set his sights on Shiki. Shirou, you understand what I'm trying to say, don't you?"
Shirou was startled, and his expression turned grave.
"Well, that's all the help I can give. I'll leave the rest to you young people."
Touko Aozaki sat on the bed and took off the coat she had worn to meet the guest. "Shirou, my medicine."
Absentmindedly, Shirou brought the glass of water and the cold and fever medicine to the bedside, murmuring to himself.
"I see... So that's how it is... Tch, I should have realized it sooner. The man you mentioned is probably hiding inside the apartment. No, he is the apartment itself."
The red-haired boy frowned. "Even by motorcycle, it takes an hour to get to the apartment from here. If I rush over now, I won't make it in time. Touko-nee-san, send me to Ogawa Apartment Complex using that Magecraft you invented."
"..."
Hearing that, Touko Aozaki could not help frowning.
"Touko Travel."
It was the flight Magecraft invented by Touko Aozaki, famous throughout the world of Magecraft.
The destination was set in advance, then the spell was established as though stretching an extremely long rubber band.
Because the spell continuously pulled from the destination, no matter whether one entered a trance-like state or anything else, it would succeed as long as the flow of Mana remained stable.
"Are you insane? If I use that in the city, the Association's spies will spot me... Ugh! Fine, fine, don't look at me with those puppy eyes. I get it. I'll do it, all right?"
Touko Aozaki sighed helplessly.
"Thank you, Touko-nee-san," Shirou said happily.
Seeing his heartfelt smile, Touko's cheeks inexplicably grew warm.
She suddenly felt that although Shirou looked like a harmless herbivore, his potential to become a scumbag was practically "Grand Rank."
That unconscious quality of making women yield to him was truly terrifying.
"Then let's go. To the rooftop... Right, before that, take your medicine first."
For the third time, Shirou handed Touko the glass of water and the capsules, but she still did not take them.
Touko Aozaki raised an eyebrow and suddenly said, "I heard Aoko brag before that you once fed her medicine mouth-to-mouth."
"That was..."
The Puppet Master gave a seductive smile that was neither quite a grin nor not. "How nice. I want the same thing done to me too. I've been looking forward to the day a cute boy would treat me like that for a very long time."
Shirou frowned.
If Touko had not been sick, he would have liked to pry her mouth open right then and toss in the water and medicine together.
"Stop messing around, Touko-nee-san."
"I'm not messing around. Hurry up and do it... Does Shiki not matter to you anymore?"
Shirou was silent for a moment, then said, "If I do it, will you send me to Ogawa Apartment Complex?"
Touko nodded with a faintly expectant look. "Mm. I won't go back on my word."
"..."
Shirou lifted Touko's chin.
The two looked into each other's eyes for several seconds.
"...Just kidding. You didn't actually take that seriously, did you, Shirou? I'm going to tell Aoko and Alice on you."
With a wicked smile, Touko took the glass from the boy's hand and swallowed the medicine with it in one gulp.
"Let's go. We're heading to the rooftop."
"Oh... right."
Shirou froze for a moment, then moved his gaze away from Touko's lips, now moist and alluring from the water.
Leaving the living space on the fourth floor, the two climbed to the rooftop above the sixth.
"Don't push yourself too hard," Shirou said.
"It's just a small piece of Magecraft."
Touko Aozaki set up the spell on the rooftop and had Shirou stand at the designated spot.
Then she came up behind the boy and placed both hands on his back.
"Ready?" she asked gently.
The boy nodded. "I'm all set."
"...Shirou."
"What is it?"
Hearing her call his name, Shirou turned back on instinct. At that very moment, Touko suddenly kissed him.
"This is part of the flight spell, so don't move."
As the Puppet Master murmured, she wrapped her arms around the boy's waist and pressed her full body even more passionately against him.