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"Hah..."
A white mist escaped from Touko Aozaki's lips, the warmth of her breath mingling with the icy air. She lay on the soft snow, her gaze distant as she stared at the bright moon above.
"He's gone—" Touko murmured, her expression calm as she looked at the night sky.
Just a moment ago, right before her eyes, Haru had scooped up Alice Kuonji's delicate form and vanished from the snow-covered park.
"—I have at least two hours."
Touko's expression turned cold, a rational light shining in her brown eyes.
From her understanding of Haru, or rather, his 'combat power,' even if this was Alice's first time, the battle would undoubtedly last for over two hours.
And that was the most important reason she had drugged Alice—to buy time.
Though Haru had promised not to interfere in her domestic dispute with Aoko, Touko was not a woman who would place all her hopes on another's promise. Besides, she didn't think a Zeus-like character like Haru would let her sister go. With the precedent of him stepping in when Alice had been defeated, how could she be at ease?
Stall Alice and Haru, buy time to get her revenge on Aoko. The thought had been echoing in her mind. And what better way to waste time than... that? She, after all, was teased by that beast until dawn every time.
"I'm lucky he didn't kill me," Touko sighed with relief.
She knew that if not for her transaction with Haru, if not for that sliver of affection, she would have likely been flayed alive the moment she had injured Alice.
After all, his earlier, exceptionally protective attitude towards Alice was no joke.
"To think that someone who has reached the end of the magical path would be so sentimental," Touko said with a sneer.
Just like last time, when she had exchanged her body for benefits and had received a pile of 'extra' materials. And now, to be let off the hook because of their relationship it was all because Haru still possessed a shred of humanity.
Touko mocked him for being a person who had reached the end of the magical path—yet still had the obvious weakness of sentimentality. But for some reason, she was exceptionally fond of this side of him.
In a collective of profit-driven mages, having seen enough of transactional relationships at the Clock Tower, she knew how rare a sentimental magus was. And for her future partner to be such a magus naturally made her happy. Though she was deep in the magical path, Touko didn't want to be without a safe harbor to relax in.
Ting—! Ting—!
The image of snapping threads echoed in her mind.
"The puppets sent to the Tokawa fulcrum are still being consumed. It seems Aoko is quite active today." Touko's lips curved into a faint smile, but though it was a smile, it held an indescribable coldness.
The connection with the puppets in her mind was rapidly dwindling. The number had already dropped to less than two thousand. That meant her 'creations' were being brutally slaughtered by the violent True Magic User.
"Time is short. I'll rescue Beo first." Touko suddenly lifted her legs, her rear lifting into the air, and with a carp-like flip, she stood up gracefully, like a professional gymnast, in the towering snow.
Touko gently patted the snow from her clothes, shaking off the flakes, and with a grin, she walked towards the small forest.
————
"Ugh—! Ah—! Ooh—!"
"Woof—! Woof—! Woof—!"
Hearing the dense barking from the forest, the smile on Touko's face vanished. She frowned and, looking at the nearly one hundred canines in the forest, said with a displeased expression,
"So disgusting—!"
"You brought this on yourself, you idiot, Beo," Touko said with a displeased expression.
Seeing this eye-searing scene, how could Touko not be in a bad mood? It was one thing for her own pet to be seduced by a divine beast. At least she could obtain the divine beast's genes for experiments.
But stray dogs??
Touko felt that the Phantasmal Species she had raised was a disgrace to all Phantasmal Species, worthy of being nailed to a pillar of shame!
After confirming Beo's location, Touko left Shagi Park and arrived at a dark alley a few hundred meters away.
Standing at the alley entrance, Touko took a transparent glass ball from the pocket of her green overcoat, pulled out a strand of her hair, wrapped it around the glass ball, and then threw it.
Thwack—!
The glass ball instantly shattered, and a cloud of smoke billowed out. Then, Beo's figure appeared before Touko.
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"..."
The tear and snot-stained golden husky, its rear in the air, was silent, its emerald green wolf eyes filled with a look of utter despair.
A glint in its emerald green wolf eyes, Beo realized it had escaped its tormentors. At the same time, it saw Touko standing beside it.
"—Miss Touko..." A hoarse, boyish voice reached Touko's ears.
"IT'S ME!" Touko looked at Beo with pity, a faint smile on her face. She began to groom its messy golden fur, like a 'dog lover.'
"Miss Touko!!!!!"
Beo suddenly wrapped its forelimbs around Touko's legs and, like a child, began to bawl.
It cried for a full twenty minutes. If not for the value of Beo's Phantasmal Species bloodline and strength, Touko would have slapped this time-wasting creature to death.
But now, she could only, like a parent, listen to its tearful complaints.
"Miss Touko... those... dogs... are so mean. Beo... said no... and they still...." Beo hugged Touko's leg, sobbing.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to vent your grievances now. But remember, you can't kill the other party. Otherwise, those dogs will find you again."
A cold glint flashed in her eyes. Touko comforted Beo in a tone one would use with a child.
If not for the fact that her familiar contract had a limited effect on Beo, and that magic was ineffective against it, she would have already erased its consciousness and used it as an experimental material and a tool. After all, a werewolf-level Phantasmal Species was an exceptionally precious experimental material to a magus.
However, Touko, who couldn't beat Beo, could only use deception to trick it into working for her, to probe the secrets of the Aozaki family's magic.
"Miss Touko!!!" Beo looked at Touko with a moved expression.
If before, Touko, who had brought it out of the primeval forest and given it food and toys, was a somewhat pleasing two-legged sheep, now, Touko, who had saved it from the poodle hell and had given it a tool to vent its frustrations, was a Bodhisattva of mercy!
Touko gently patted Beo's head and fixed her gaze on the west, on the place where the puppets were constantly being destroyed.
"Stop messing around. Let's go. We only have an hour and a half left. If we delay any longer, the toy will run away."
"Yes!!!"
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