Miyamashi.
In a well-known fast-food chain.
"Over the years, I've seen all sorts of customers, some downright bizarre, but you're the first to summon me like a lackey and pick a fast-food joint for a meeting."
"Even if I'm your senpai, if you're asking for my help, shouldn't you show some respect, Crowley?"
Aozaki Touko extinguished her cigarette, eyeing the black-haired youth across from her, munching fries and nodding in response.
"Compared to those fancy coffee shops with pretty but unsatisfying pastries that leave you hungry, fast food is quick and convenient."
Roy glanced at her, answering without looking up.
"Besides, I don't think someone drowning in debt has much credibility to demand respect from me."
After handling matters in Fuyuki, he'd traveled overnight by bullet train, arriving at dawn.
Analyzing his itinerary, from yesterday to now, he'd flown from London to Japan, taken a taxi, and then the bullet train without a break—a relentless journey.
So, stepping off the train, Roy, following the principle of convenience, grabbed food at a nearby fast-food place and called the acquaintance he needed to meet: the red-haired woman now sitting before him.
Don't let her youthful, twenty-something appearance fool you—her background was formidable. Once a renowned magecraft genius at the Clock Tower, her talents and achievements far surpassed ordinary imagination, bordering on miraculous.
Among her accomplishments, two stood out:
She reconstructed two declining magecraft systems in the modern era.
In an age of waning mystery, she single-handedly revived medieval puppetry techniques, even surpassing and refining them in some aspects, achieving a form of alternative immortality while retaining self-awareness.
Moreover, she resurrected the lost Norse Rune magecraft foundation, not only regenerating the twenty-four common runes but also deciphering several Primordial Runes lost since the Age of Gods. Her talent was a genius among geniuses, a modern miracle among magi.
Thanks to her puppetry and rune revival, she indisputably earned the highest rank in the Mage's Association: [Grand].
Yes, her true identity was Aozaki Touko, the Clock Tower's fugitive branded with the title [Red of Pain], a miracle born among modern magi.
Yet, despite her genius and miraculous feats, her current situation was far from ideal—downright dismal, even.
This was thanks to the Clock Tower's idiotic system: the Sealing Designation.
A Sealing Designation, under the guise of "protection," detained and confined magi with rare talents or taboo violations for life.
Those with unique magecraft unattainable through study (like Reality Marbles) were treated as "valuable specimens" by the Mage's Association, "protected" for preservation. The Association captured these magi, maintaining their magecraft traits as prized samples for posterity.
In plain terms, a Sealing Designation was little different from being sliced and preserved in formalin. To the Association, it was benevolent; to the designated magus, it was a death sentence.
Aozaki Touko's exceptional talents landed her on that list, personally placed there by her own professor, sparking years of fugitive life.
Now, she wore a white shirt under a brown sweater and light brown coat, a suitcase in hand, her wine-red hair tied in a ponytail, and plain oval glasses on her high nose bridge, exuding more intellect than at the Clock Tower. But Roy faintly sensed the exhaustion lurking in her eyes.
"Aozaki-senpai, life on the run must be tough, huh?"
"...Ugh, don't rub it in, okay?"
"Chased by the Department of Policies' hounds—when do I get to rest?"
Touko sighed helplessly, her fire dimmed by his words, grabbing a few fries from the table and popping them into her mouth.
To her, Roy's question was redundant. As a top fugitive hunted by the Clock Tower, dodging capture worldwide, her life was anything but calm.
Not only did she have to guard against Sealing Enforcers popping up anytime, she also needed to earn money to pay off old debts.
With her skills, few in the world could truly kill her.
But being unkillable didn't make the endless pursuit any less exhausting.
She was alone against the Department of Policies' Enforcers and daring bounty hunters. No matter how skilled, she was stretched thin against such a vast force.
The Department's hounds, unlike the Clock Tower's research-obsessed or politically scheming magi, were formidable in combat and intelligence, their skills and information precise. Even as a Grand magus, Touko had to flee their pursuit.
But this constant running and fending off pursuers wasn't the life she wanted.
For a magus, a stable place to study magecraft, hoping to one day reach the Root, was the true path. This knife-edge fugitive life suited lunatics.
Unlike the resource-rich Clock Tower, her materials and funds were limited, dwindling with each use. If this continued, she'd soon lack the money to craft even backup puppets.
This was why Touko abandoned Western Europe, fleeing to Japan—a region scorned by Western nobles for its mystic scarcity—to lay low.
Worse, she hadn't closed her financial gaps; her debts had tanked her credit. With no one daring to cross the omnipotent Department of Policies, securing investments from magecraft families was nearly impossible.
She was desperately broke.
Who'd believe a Grand puppeteer was nearly too poor to afford puppet materials?
So when she got a sudden call from a wealthy contact—no, her dear kouhai—she rushed from her hideout, hoping to secure funds to improve her situation.
As for the debts she owed Roy, Touko didn't mention them.
She owed too much to care. She'd pay slowly. With her lifespan, she wasn't worried.
If the debts grew unmanageable, she'd just pawn off her rune research. It wasn't as useful to her anymore.
"Speaking of, it's only been two years, but you've changed a lot, huh?" Touko, calming down, re-examined Roy, a flicker of curiosity in her crimson eyes.
"Have I changed that much?"
'Too much—like a completely different person.'
Touko thought silently, puzzled by the changes in him.
"Guess so. I think so too."
Roy nodded, acknowledging her observation.