The journey of the Mystic Eye Collection Train lasted four days and three nights. After the events of the previous days, the trip finally reached its last day.
On this final day, as per tradition, the Mystic Eye Auction was held. After viewing the displayed Mystic Eyes or reading the Mystic Eye Collection Train's catalog over the past few days, the Magus on the train surely had their sights set on the Mystic Eyes they wanted to buy.
Of course, some Magus already possessed Mystic Eyes and intended to sell them through this auction—these Magus might have already completed the procedure to extract their Mystic Eyes.
Naoki, however, didn't fall into either category.
He had no interest in Mystic Eyes. Besides the fact that he himself possessed a pair of Mystic Eyes ranked at least at the Jewel level, he was accustomed to seeing Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception daily. He had no interest whatsoever in purchasing Mystic Eyes, the highest rank of which was only Gold, as offered by the Mystic Eye Collection Train.
Naturally, he also had no intention of selling his own Mystic Eyes. They were his most important trump card, aside from his Holy Sword. He wouldn't do something foolish like discarding his trump card.
As such, not belonging to either group, Naoki naturally didn't go to the auction site with the other Magus. He simply sent Rei as his representative to accompany Marie.
With Rei there, even if another Dead Apostle Ancestor showed up, it wouldn't be an issue.
As for Naoki himself—
"This is the place?"
Standing in front of a door in the sleeping car of the Mystic Eye Collection Train, Naoki glanced at the tightly shut door and raised his hand to knock.
"The door's unlocked. Come in."
A voice came from inside.
Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Naoki saw a red-haired woman sitting on a sofa near the window, holding a cup of coffee. She seemed to have been waiting there for a while.
Compared to two years ago, she hadn't changed much. The voice he just heard was the same too. But then again, she was a puppet, so it was impossible for her to age over time.
Seeing Naoki standing at the door, Touko set down her coffee and smiled. "Long time no see. Two years, Naoki? From the look of you, it seems these two years have treated you well?"
"Yeah, pretty well. Just these past two days haven't been great."
Naoki said as he sat across from Touko, picking up the coffee pot to pour himself a cup—at Garan no Dou, that's how it worked. Make a pot of coffee, and pour it yourself if you want some.
Hearing Naoki's words, Touko recalled the events of the previous day. "One of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. Inside its domain, natural Magecraft can't be used—it's practically a natural enemy of Magus. But that's not a problem for you, is it?"
Touko had complete confidence in her disciple's strength. If one day she heard news that her disciple had been killed while out and about, she wouldn't think twice and would immediately know it was fake.
Hoping someone in this era could kill the wielder of the Holy Sword?
They'd be better off figuring out how to avoid the world's destruction foretold by the Atlas Institute.
"That's not the issue. It was just a bit of a stretch… well, let's just say I've been busy taming a wild beast lately."
"Oh, that maid following you." Touko immediately understood. Her gaze toward Naoki became meaningful. "Turning your crafted puppet into a maid—you really have a lot of tricks up your sleeve. No wonder you said back then that you wanted to learn puppet-making for that purpose."
Without shame, his reason for learning puppet-making was male desire—that was the excuse Naoki gave when he became her disciple. Now, it seemed his goal had been perfectly achieved. He had a puppet that could change its form according to his wishes.
That Rei probably only needed a single word from Naoki to instantly transform into whatever appearance he desired.
"By the way, you haven't done anything weird to that puppet, have you?"
"Touko, that's the wrong way to ask. You should be asking if she did anything weird to me, her master." Naoki's face showed a hint of awkwardness. In terms of initiative, he was basically always overpowered by Rei and Manaka. They had no respect for his authority as their master.
Touko paused for a moment, then took a sip of coffee to calm herself. "You really… never mind. Seeing your expression, it doesn't seem like you're complaining about the situation, so I won't comment further."
"More importantly, while I figured you'd come find me after knowing I was on this train, at this hour—aren't you going to the auction?"
"I'm not interested in that. If someone hadn't asked me to do something, I wouldn't even be on this train. But I'm glad I came, since I got to meet you, Touko, after two years."
Over these two years, Touko and Naoki had met the least. He'd seen Aoko a dozen times, but Touko—truly not even once. It was like she'd vanished from the world, with no news of her at all.
"Where have you been these past two years, Touko?"
"Nowhere special. Just wandering the world as usual. Staying in one place for a week or two, then moving on to the next." Touko explained. "Though compared to before, without Beowulf, there are some interesting places I couldn't visit."
The Golden Wolf Beowulf, a Phantasmal Species on the level of two thousand years, should still be in Misaki City.
Back when she first signed a contract with Beowulf, having a top-tier Phantasmal Species as a bodyguard, Touko did many things that now seemed incredibly bold: giant Ancient Species in the northern seas, the sea of no return leading to another world, and even this Mystic Eye Collection Train—those were probably Touko's most thrilling experiences, aside from the Holy Grail War.
Hearing Touko's words, Naoki immediately said, "Then just give me a call, right? With me around, whether it's under a pyramid or in an ancient forest, I'll go with you, Touko."
"…"
Naoki's overly spontaneous response left Touko momentarily speechless, then she smiled. "Are you sure you can spare the time to accompany me around? I've heard a few times that the fiancée of the Clock Tower's head is secretly keeping lovers on the side."
"Hey, hey, hey, where did that rumor come from? When did I ever keep lovers? Slander!"
It couldn't exactly be called keeping lovers. If anything, he was openly sailing multiple ships—Riddell, [the first one] on the surface, knew all about Merry and the others!
Once this matter was settled, Naoki would definitely return to the Clock Tower to thoroughly investigate who the jerk was spreading malicious rumors to tarnish his reputation!
Just wait and see how he'd cut that person down!