To become a king and a magician

"Didn't you say you were coming at noon?"

As he spoke, Natsukawa Tora glanced around the office.

"This place looks a bit messy, and I don't know if it's just my imagination, but there are a lot of meaningless things here. Teacher, are you the kind of person who likes to leave things lying around?"

"That's not entirely true. I do tidy up occasionally, but I've been busy organizing the doll exhibition lately."

"Just like my brother."

Grey laughed.

“My brother often does this too. He says he’ll tidy it up later, but when he goes to check on it a few days later, it’s not only not tidy, but it’s even messier.”

"Irrefutable."

Xia Chuanhu chuckled dryly twice.

As his little housekeeper, Grey knows his room better than he does himself. She knows exactly where Natsukawa Tiger likes to put things. Sometimes, even if Natsukawa Tiger can't remember where he put something, Grey can find it for him in no time.

In a sense, this is also quite terrifying.

"So."

After taking off her glasses, lighting a cigarette and taking a puff, Aozaki Touko took out a piece of parchment from the drawer and said, "Let's sign the contract. I've prepared the contract. After you sign your name, we will be officially master and apprentice."

Taking the contract, Natsukawa Torama read it carefully. But halfway through, looking at a line in the middle, he couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, what about this line: 'Serving as a volunteer employee of Garan no Tsukai'...?"

"Oh, so you mean you'll work for me for free," Aozaki Touko laughed. "Magicians take on students not just to impart knowledge and expand their faction, but also to find assistants. However, I don't have any magic research to conduct right now, so you can just work for me."

"Working for free?"

"You could say that. If I had to name a reward, it would be the puppetry technique I taught you. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"There's no problem... I just thought you would adopt the one-on-one tutoring method."

In this way, learning becomes something like checking off a list.

Aozaki Touko chuckled lightly: "Well, there are many ways to teach. I prefer the kind of teaching that involves hands-on experience. Aren't you good at hands-on practice?"

"No, my original teacher was the same as yours, so I should be considered good at it."

That's what they say, but because Meryl always messes up every practical assignment, Natsukawa Tora always fails at least once, so it's hard to say whether that counts as being good at it.

After reviewing the entire contract and confirming that there were no problems, Xia Chuanhu signed his name.

"That makes the contract effective."

After carefully putting away the contract, Aozaki Touko smiled as she put on her glasses.

"Then let's not delay any longer. As your first task as my student, go and buy me lunch."

"what?"

"Hurry up, the convenience store across the street, pork cutlet bento. I've been sitting here all morning and I'm starving."

He exchanged a glance with Grey and Xia Chuanhu couldn't help but smile wryly: "Yes, yes, I'll go buy it for you right away, Master."

"Oh! That's a nice name!"

————————————————————————————

A few minutes later.

"The car accident last March?"

Aozaki Touko, who was eating her bento, was taken aback when Natsukawa Torato asked her question: "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"There are some things I want to confirm."

"Hmm, let me think... Last March... I don't remember if there was a car accident, but I do remember a murder very clearly."

"A murder case?"

“Well, because I happen to be a friend of the victim, the police asked me to ask some questions.” Aozaki Touko said while taking a sip of her drink. “To be honest, I never dreamed that guy would die, at least I never thought he would die in that way. I was really shocked at the time.”

he?

Xia Chuanhu's heart skipped a beat, and an idea vaguely surfaced in his mind.

"I remember the crime scene was in front of a bamboo grove. The first person to discover it was a driver. He was passing by when he saw a body lying in the middle of the road and then called the police."

"Is the bamboo grove... the home of the Ryougi family?"

"Oh, you know—get me a glass of water."

After taking the water poured by Natsukawa Tora and taking a sip, Aozaki Touko continued, "The Ryougi family has had quite a few troubles in the past two years. Although it's just hearsay, there have been corpses found at their doorstep, family members have gone missing, and there have been horrific murders that have occurred in the alleys over the past two years. Every single one of these things has kept the Ryougi family extremely busy."

In March 1996, a corpse was found in front of the Ryougi family's house, members of the Ryougi family went missing, and a murder occurred in an alley.

In addition, the person I met last night was probably someone from Ryougi Shiki.

Natsukawa Tiger could probably guess what had happened in Kanbushi City over the past two years.

But there's still one problem: if things really turn out as he thinks, then...

"Teacher, could you answer one more question for me?"

"What else do you want to ask?"

"The name of your deceased friend."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Aozaki Touko sighed softly: "Araya."

“Araya Sōren”.

13. My first experience with doll making

Araya Sōren is dead.

Although he had some suspicions when he heard Aozaki Touko say that there was no car accident last year, but a murder, Natsukawa Tora was still surprised when he actually heard the truth.

"Dead... is that right?"

"Yes. Although he was an excellent puppeteer like me, and also a powerful barrier master, I have confirmed it repeatedly, and he is indeed dead."

Like Aozaki Touko, Araya Sōren can achieve a certain degree of immortality through puppetry. However, unlike Aozaki Touko's reincarnation after death, his method involves transplanting his brain into a new body.

Last year, when they performed the autopsy, Aozaki Touko became certain that it was indeed him who had died.

After hanging his head in silence for a while, Natsukawa Tora sighed softly: "I'm sorry, teacher, I made you mention your deceased friend."

"It's nothing, my relationship with him isn't that great," Aozaki Touko laughed. "More importantly, you said you asked these questions to confirm some things, have you confirmed them now?"

"It's pretty much all there is to it, but I still have some doubts. I'll investigate it myself later."

"That's good."

Tossing the lunchbox into the trash can, Aozaki Touko stood up: "Well, lunch's over, questions' all asked, work... let me think... I think I have an order that's not finished yet. I'll finish it now, and you can deliver it to me later."

Where to send it?

"Let me look at the roster..."

Aozaki Touko rummaged through a pile of folders and odds and ends on her desk and pulled out a register. She flipped straight to the last page: "Ah, I've got it."

"This is my last order. It's not big and there aren't any special requirements, so I've been putting it off—it has to be delivered by tomorrow at the latest! Luckily I remembered. Oh no, if I don't deliver on time, my reputation will be ruined... Wait, this is also an opportunity."

Sighing and tapping her head, Aozaki Touko walked towards the door: "Come with me, young man. I'll let you see the doll-making process in person."

"Huh? Is that okay? I don't know any theoretical knowledge at all!"

"It's okay, it's okay, it's just a very simple doll. I'll explain it to you as I make it. It'll definitely be faster to watch me do it than to listen to me talk about those theories. Little girls can come along too."

————————————————————————————

Aozaki Touko makes dolls in an empty room on the fourth floor, which is about the size of three rooms.

The room was dimly lit, with only a few small chandeliers hanging in the center of the room, beneath which was an excessively large table.

That's the basic setup. The rest of the space is piled up with chairs and all sorts of odds and ends, making it look like the area has been violently cleared away. And on the chairs and piles of clutter—or rather, on display—are various kinds of dolls.

"Are these the same dolls from the previous doll exhibition?" Natsukawa Tora asked, noticing a doll that looked somewhat familiar.

"Yes. What, you want to buy it?"

"I have no money."

The overly direct answer made Aozaki Touko chuckle: "Hehe, even if you wanted to buy, I wouldn't sell. Although I said that to you before, 'Have you seen any dolls you like?', I actually have no intention of selling these things at all."

"Huh? Are they all not for sale?" Grey asked, somewhat surprised. "Then why is Miss Orange holding a doll exhibition?"

“To attract customers,” Aozaki Touko laughed. “I don’t sell pre-made items, since they’re made according to my own aesthetic and requirements, which certainly won’t satisfy customers. So I’m only showing off the dolls to attract customers and promote myself.”

"I have the skills to make these exquisite dolls, so if you want a doll, you can commission me to make it"—that's what I meant. After that, it's just a matter of taking a deposit and then making the doll.

It's similar to selling figurines.

Arriving at the workbench, taking off her glasses, and reviewing the requirements for doll making, Aozaki Touko asked, "Speaking of which, young man, do you know what the raw materials for doll making are?"

"I remember in the Middle Ages, it was metal. But that would make it too heavy, so modern materials are various industrial materials that have been magically treated, like silicone and the like."

"That's right. But there's actually a lazier way."

As Aozaki Touko spoke, she pulled a box out from under the table. Natsukawa Torato leaned over to take a look and exclaimed, "Eh? A ball of yarn?"

"Surprised?"

"Is...won't the doll made this way be a little weak?"

"Hmm, this is the lowest strength doll, but the dolls we're making this time don't need to be particularly strong, so this material is just right. We'll use magic to fix any shortcomings—watch me make it carefully."

As she spoke, Aozaki Touko scattered the yarn balls onto the table and then took out a bottle from underneath.

"The basic material for magic tricks is mercury because it is very compatible with magic. In addition to making puppets, it is used in many magic experiments. Sulfur and salt are also important, as they are the three sacred elements of alchemy and are also key elements in puppet magic."

"Yes."

.......

For the next three hours, Aozaki Touko devoted herself entirely to making the doll, explaining in detail to Natsukawa Torato the role and applicable occasions of each step in the doll making process.

As Aozaki Touko spoke, Natsukawa Kai, who was holding a notebook, would write down all the key points she made. Although she couldn't organize them immediately due to time constraints, it was only the first day, so there wasn't much to organize yet.

To be honest, Natsukawa Tora felt that he had never been this diligent when looking up game guides back in the day.