To become a king and a magician

Natsukawa Tora's overly decisive answer made Aozaki Touko pause for a moment, then she laughed and said, "Are you sure you can find the time to go out and run around with me? I've heard about it several times before, about the Clock Tower Monarch's fiancé keeping a mistress behind his fiancée's back."

"Hey, hey, hey, where did this rumor come from? When did I ever keep a mistress? That's slander!"

It can't really be called being kept, but if you have to put it that way, it's an open and aboveboard affair with multiple women—Lidel, as the publicly acknowledged "number one," knows everything about what happened to Meryl and the others!

After this matter is over, Xia Chuanhu will definitely go back to the Clock Tower to investigate which bastard spread such bad rumors to smear him!

We'll see how he deals with that guy then!

39. Rita Rogan

"On another note, why did you come to the Magic Eye Collection Train, Orange?"

After continuing his conversation with Aozaki Touko, Natsukawa Torato suddenly asked this question.

"If I remember correctly, Orange, you and Beo caused some trouble on this train before, right? Weren't you blacklisted after that? How come you were able to get on the train?"

“Yes, that’s true in theory.” Aozaki Touko looked nostalgic. “I remember back then, the owner of this train hadn’t left yet, unlike now where there’s only an agent, which makes me feel bored.”

The owner of the Demon Eye Collection Train, according to Natsukawa Tora, was a Dead Apostle named Rita Rogéan. Like Fu Hailin, she was one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors of Dead Apostles, ranking after Fu Hailin.

Before Aozaki Touko boarded the Mystic Eyes Collection Train last time, she would still personally appear at the auctions, although not every time. But ever since Aozaki Touko messed up an auction last time, this Dead Apostle has never appeared on the train again, leaving only an agent and not getting involved in any other matters.

Xia Chuanhu asked with some curiosity, "Orange, what exactly did you do here last time?"

"She messed up an auction, damaged a lot of Mystic Eyes, and also made that Dead Apostle suffer a great loss because of Beo," Aozaki Touko laughed. "Even a Dead Apostle can't get the better of a Mystic Species of Beo's level. She was beaten to a pulp back then."

That explains the current outcome.

Among the Dead Apostles, Rita Rogan is a typical aristocrat, a self-proclaimed artist and hedonist who lives a life of debauchery. For someone like her, her time with Aozaki Touko was definitely not a pleasant past.

Therefore, she left the train directly. If she had stayed here, she would definitely have had trouble sleeping because she was constantly troubled by her conflict with Aozaki Touko.

"So, Orange, how did you get on the bus this time?"

“Of course I received an invitation.” Aozaki Touko took out a black invitation from her pocket. “You can’t get on this train without an invitation—even if it’s not absolute, given my blacklist status, if I showed up in such a reckless way, I would definitely be kicked out immediately. Besides, I didn’t really want to come to this place in the first place.”

"The reason I came here is because Rita Rogan wanted me to come, so I made a special trip. After all, in a sense, I have some working relationship with her."

As she spoke, Aozaki Touko pushed up her glasses—the same style as Natsukawa Torato's "Mystic Eyes Killer" glasses. The pair Natsukawa Torato was wearing now was a graduation gift from Aozaki Touko two years ago.

Just as Aozaki Touko finished speaking, the space in the room suddenly trembled, and a figure silently appeared beside Natsukawa Tora and Aozaki Touko.

She was a blonde woman with red eyes, dressed in white that evoked images of roses.

Looking at the person who suddenly appeared, Aozaki Touko pouted: "I was catching up with my lovely disciple, couldn't you have picked a better time? Rita Roggean."

"Disciple? Yours?"

The woman in white turned her head and scanned him with her eyes as if she were sizing him up, but when her eyes met Xia Chuanhu's, she suddenly froze.

“It may be a bit rude of me to say this, young man, but could you please take off your glasses for a moment?” The white-clad woman—Rita Rogéan—said with a hint of unease.

Excited? What is she excited about? Is it because of her Demon Eye?

Natsukawa Torara hesitated for a moment, then reached out and removed the Mystic Eyes. Since Sajou Aika was no longer inside them, Natsukawa Torara could now freely control the pair of Mystic Eyes.

Looking at the pair of sky-blue demonic eyes that appeared before her eyes, Rita Rojaan couldn't help but smile after a brief moment of contemplation: "What a beautiful pair of demonic eyes, young man. Compared to your demonic eyes, all the demonic eyes I have ever seen are nothing but worthless junk."

Gemstone—at least that level, Rita Rogan could roughly judge. In all the time the Mystic Eyes Collection Train has developed, the number of gemstone-level Mystic Eyes that have appeared is less than two hands' worth, and even compared to those Mystic Eyes, Natsukawa Torato's Mystic Eye can be described as exceptionally beautiful.

Just looking into his eyes makes you feel like your soul isn't your own anymore.

"Interested in selling your Demon Eye? Young man, let me think... How about fifteen billion US dollars? If you think that's not enough, you can keep raising the price."

Fifteen billion—a pair of ordinary Noblecolor-level Mystic Eyes would only fetch around forty million, but the fact that Rita Rogan offered fifteen billion for Natsukawa Torama's Mystic Eyes is enough to prove how much Rita Rogan values ​​the Soul-Eating Mystic Eyes.

Putting his Mystic Eyes back on, Natsukawa Tora shook his head: "I'm sorry, Ms. Roganne, I have no intention of selling my Mystic Eyes. I still have a use for them at this stage. If they become useless to me in the future, I would be happy to sell them."

Although that's probably at least a hundred years from now.

Upon hearing Natsukawa Torata's words, Rita Rogan nodded slightly: "As long as you are willing to sell, that's fine. For me, time is something I can't live without. I look forward to the day when I can add your magic eyes to my collection. After that, I will make you a regular invitee on this train."

"Thank you so much."

After lingering for a while longer at Natsukawa Torama's demonic eyes, Rita Rojaan turned her gaze to Aozaki Touko: "You have a fine disciple, the puppeteer."

"Don't even think about messing around with him, you can't afford the consequences," Aozaki Touko warned. "So, now you can tell me, the reason you specially invited me here couldn't just be to catch up with me, could it?"

Just as Natsukawa Tora had thought, Aozaki Touko, who was on the train's blacklist, assumed that receiving the invitation was purely accidental. After all, there were several anonymous invitations, and it wouldn't be surprising if they were sent to anyone. But in reality, it was an invitation specifically addressed to Aozaki Touko.

Those two managers don't have that kind of authority. If Rita Rogan knew that the two of them had invited Aozaki Touko, she would definitely treat them like blood bags and drain them dry. The only thing that can be assumed is that Rita Rogan herself wanted to invite her.

"It's nothing major. I've just recently become interested in dolls, so I want to collect some high-quality ones. Although I could probably get them by going directly to the [Demon City], they're still inferior to yours."

"I want the best. As the world's best puppeteer, could you please create a top-tier doll for me? [Grand]?"

"Of course, the reward is not a problem. Besides money, I also know that you have been pursuing some strange things for the past two years to gather inspiration, right? Just recently, I did receive some rather strange news."

Strange news?

Aozaki Touko's brow twitched: "What news?"

"Hmm... I might as well tell you this, as a way to gain your trust—I don't know where the news came from, but in that island nation in the Far East, in your hometown city, there seems to be a slightly special Dead Apostle who has appeared."

40. Aozaki Aoko: Touko, you just wait!

Has a suicidal gang appeared in Misaki City?

They exchanged a glance, and Aozaki Touko couldn't help but laugh: "Aren't you vampires scattered all over the world? What's so strange about you appearing in Misaki City? Besides, I stopped considering that place my hometown a long time ago. Do you expect me to think about protecting my hometown and rush back?"

Aozaki Touko had long since abandoned the idea of ​​a hometown. Now, the only place she could consider as her hometown was this planet itself.

“No, didn’t you hear what I said, Puppeteer?” Rita Rogan wagged her finger. “If it were just a Dead Apostle, this kind of trash wouldn’t reach my ears, but if it’s a Dead Apostle of our caliber, then that’s a bit unusual.”

Is she in the same class as Rita Rogéan?

That means... an ancestor appeared in Misaki City?

"Is there anything strange about this?" Aozaki Touko asked. "Seven years ago, three ancestors died in Misaki City. Now, another one has appeared. Is there anything surprising about it?"

"What if I said it was an ancestor that appeared out of thin air?"

Rita Rogéan added with a smile, "You should know that there are only two ways for a Dead Apostle to become a Ancestor—either by killing the previous Ancestor or by inheriting from a blood relative of the Ancestor."

"The first method is very rare. I only know of two examples. One is Floff, who was killed seven years ago, and the other is Anhans, who hunts Dead Apostles. Apart from these two, there have been other Zus killed over the years, but similar examples have not occurred."

"The second type is me. This example doesn't need much explanation; it's a normal iterative replacement."

"But the ancestor in Misaki City is different. It appeared out of thin air. It didn't exist in the world before. It's like a meteorite that suddenly crashed into the earth."

"So, are you interested, puppeteer?"

An ancestor who appeared out of thin air.

If it were just a normal Ancestor, Aozaki Touko wouldn't be too interested, since she's seen quite a few Ancestors, and most of them were taken care of by Natsukawa Tora, who is by her side. She knows of at least four Ancestors who have been killed.

In addition, in recent years, for some unknown reason, there have been frequent rumors that some ancestors have been killed. Although the authenticity cannot be confirmed, it can at least be confirmed that one or two ancestors have been killed.

The sudden appearance of an ancestor at this time is indeed a situation that raises some concerns.

After pondering for a moment, Aozaki Touko sighed: "Alright, this is indeed information that interests me. The negotiation is on. Tell me what kind of doll you want, and I will make the highest-quality one I can."

"Yes, transactions should be clean and efficient. Haggling is such an unpleasant habit. I have only one requirement—perfection. Present me with the most perfect doll you can make. That's my only requirement."

This guy is the kind of customer I hate the most—Aozaki Touko immediately concluded to herself.

Perfect? ​​That's basically the same as "whatever." Who knows what her definition of perfection is? If you do something and get a very dissatisfied answer from her, wouldn't all your work be for nothing?

(Then I'll just make something random and get by.)

"Once it's done, just wait for the next train to depart. I'll send you an invitation next time too. By the way, boy with the beautiful, enchanting eyes, what's your name?"

"Natsukawa Tiger".

After memorizing the name Natsukawa Torato, Rita Rogan stood up: "Just like the Puppeteer, the Magic Eye Collection Train will send you an invitation every time from now on. I look forward to our future meetings, Torato."

After saying that, Rita Rogéan vanished from the room in a phantom.

Originally, she was just a clone of the main body left on this train. She could appear anywhere on the train at any time, so it's not incomprehensible that she would suddenly appear and then suddenly leave.

After watching her leave, Natsukawa Torama asked Aozaki Touko, "Touko, are you going back to Misaki City after this?"

"Probably, I'm somewhat interested, but I'm not sure if I'll actually go," Aozaki Touko said with a smile. "So, if I were to go, would you come with me?"

"Yes, that's fine, I'm okay with it."

Xia Chuanhu immediately replied, "It's just that I'll have to take another day off from the Clock Tower, but it's not a big problem."

"Don't you need to tell your family members?"

“Merry and the others won’t stop me from going. In short, Orange, if you want to go, I can come with you anytime, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

"Anytime..."

After muttering to herself, Aozaki Touko took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lit one, took a drag, and exhaled a puff of ash towards the window: "Speaking of which, how long has it been since you and Aoko last saw each other?"

"Huh? Aoko? Half a year and five days."

"You remember it so clearly?"

"I'm used to it. After all, with Aoko's personality, she might come back at any time. I need to remember the day she left and make some preparations."

As for what kind of preparations are needed... well, those who know, know.

(Six months and five days, that's probably why they've been apart for so long, since they've been together for almost six years. In a way, they really lost to Aoko, she acted so quickly.)

Taking another drag of her cigarette, glancing at her disciple, Aozaki Touko stubbed out her cigarette: "Well... I'll gladly accept your offer. Tora, I'll trouble you and me to make a trip to Misaki City this time. As my bodyguard—if anything happens in Misaki City, I'll be counting on you to survive."

Ms. Aozaki Touko said with a smile, "Even if this body dies, I can immediately take out a new one."

Hearing her say that, Natsukawa Torama gave a wry smile: "I understand. In the name of the Holy Sword Wielder, I swear to you, Miss Orange, I will protect your safety and will not let you suffer any harm—"

"Crack!"

Just as Xia Chuanhu finished speaking, an untimely cracking sound came from the doorway.

The two looked over there and saw that Sajou Rei had been standing there at some point, gripping the door frame tightly with one hand, cracking the frame.

"Lingyi, is the auction over?"

"Yes, everything went smoothly, nothing unusual happened." Sajou Rei replied with a smile. "More importantly, Master, could you please explain to me—what are you doing to Miss Touko right now?"

"Having six relationships at once isn't enough, now you want to expand into having twin sisters? You insatiable master?"