To become a king and a magician

The person who commissioned the doll was the president of a company. Because his wife had recently passed away, he missed her terribly and wanted Aozaki Touko to make a doll that looked exactly like his wife in order to ease his grief.

From the perspective of puppet magic, this is just making a model, at most adjusting the appearance. Even if you start from scratch, it only takes a few hours.

"Alright! Done!"

After completing the final step of coloring, Aozaki Touko wiped away a little sweat: "Phew~~~~ Not bad, I think I did it perfectly according to the requirements."

"Teacher, I don't really think it's necessary to make all of that."

"I'm doing this for the president's sake. What if he actually takes this perfectly recreated doll as his wife and takes it to bed?"

Doesn't that mean we've made a cup?

Patting the sighing Natsukawa Tora on the shoulder, Aozaki Touko smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you to deliver the goods. Would you like me to lend you my car?"

"No need, I don't have a driver's license. I can just carry it."

14. Guanbuzi City is really small.

Delivering the doll didn't take much time; as Natsukawa Tora himself said, he was actually faster running than taking a car.

"That should be fine, but just in case, I'll call the teacher to confirm."

At the entrance of a company, Natsukawa Tora, thinking to himself, dialed Aozaki Touko's number: "Teacher, it's been delivered. After the other party signs for it and pays the balance, is that all?"

"Okay, no problem. That means all the work for this year is done. The day after tomorrow is the Lunar New Year, time to enjoy a good drink all day!"

"Drinking all day? With alcohol?"

Of course, alcohol is a good thing; it can make you forget all your troubles instantly. Although your head will hurt afterwards, you can just drink yourself to death from alcohol poisoning and then be reborn into a new body and everything will be fine.

As expected of a Grand Puppeteer who can change bodies anytime, anywhere, she no longer cares about her own life or death.

[That's it for today's end of the workday. You don't need to go back to the office. You can arrange your own time from now on.]

"Ah, wait a moment, teacher, I have something to do!" Natsukawa Torato quickly called out to Aozaki Touko, "I wonder if there are any vacant rooms in the agency? If so, Gray and I would like to stay there."

"You're staying here? There are plenty of rooms, but most of them are unfurnished. I slept on the sofa. By the way, why did you guys choose to stay here? Aren't hotels comfortable?"

"It's comfortable, but the price... to be honest, even though I have some savings now, I still can't afford to stay in hotels every day."

Two years ago, Xia Chuanhu had already paid off the debts he incurred from blowing up the laboratory under Lidel's name. Since he no longer had to pay off debts, Xia Chuanhu had gradually accumulated some savings. However, even so, his living conditions were not good enough for him to stay in a hotel for an extended period of time.

He himself didn't care, living under a bridge was no problem for him, but Gray couldn't suffer with him.

"I'm fine sleeping on the floor, but could you make room for Grey? I'll buy the furniture later."

"You really spoil your sister... Alright, there are plenty of empty rooms on the third floor, you can pick any one as your bedroom. Oh, and get me a set of furniture too, the cost can be deducted from the final payment you just received."

"Yes."

That's all for now, see you later.

After hanging up the phone, Xia Chuanhu immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Gray beside him, "Alright Gray, the accommodation is settled. To be honest, when I canceled the reservation before leaving at noon, I was thinking about what to do if the teacher didn't agree. Now there's no problem."

"Miss Orange is a kind person who seems cold on the outside but is warm on the inside."

"Then... let's go to the supermarket. The teacher let us stay here, so we should buy some things to thank the teacher. Besides, the day after tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, so we should buy some things."

Grey nodded, then asked, "But... what's the difference between New Year's in Japan and England? What should I buy?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Chuanhu froze, his foot, which he had raised halfway.

(This reminds me... I've only actually experienced the Japanese New Year once.)

After all, Natsukawa Tora had only lived in Japan for about a year and a half, and the only time he spent New Year's was at Ryudouji Temple. Before he transmigrated, his parents always took care of what he needed to buy for the New Year, and he just had to wait at home for them to come back.

After a moment of silence, Xia Chuanhu decisively took out his phone.

When in doubt, go to the internet.

"Shit, my flip phone can't connect to the internet..."

This was the umpteenth time that Natsukawa Torato had felt distressed about this technologically underdeveloped era.

"Anyway, let's go to the supermarket first. They should have a list of things we need to buy for the New Year. We can just buy whatever we find there. If all else fails, we can ask the kind people on the street."

————————————————————————————

Compared to supermarkets in the UK, Japanese supermarkets seem to have a smaller variety of products. For Natsukawa Torama and Grey, who are used to large supermarkets in the UK, the Japanese supermarkets are actually a bit small.

"Grey, what do you want to eat tonight?"

Pushing a shopping cart through the ingredients section, Natsukawa Tiger looked at the various ingredients and asked questions.

Instead of answering immediately, Grey asked, "Brother, are you going to cook dinner tonight?"

"After all, we can't keep eating out, my brother's wallet isn't that thick. Although my cooking skills are just so-so, they're nowhere near as good as Meryl's."

"My brother's cooking..."

After briefly imagining Natsukawa Tora cooking in the kitchen wearing an apron, Grey's face suddenly turned red. She quickly lowered the brim of her hat, ran to the front of the car, and threw in a few boxes of beef.

"Beef? Hmm... I wouldn't mind if it was half price. Oh right, I wonder if the firm has a refrigerator and a kitchen? I should text the teacher and ask."

Although Natsukawa Torato had probably already guessed the actual situation.

After editing and sending the text message, Natsukawa Tora continued looking at the freezer: "As for beef... beef stew with potatoes? Black pepper beef tenderloin? Boiled beef? What do you think, Grey?"

"Brother, are you really sure you can do this?"

"Hmm!" Natsukawa Torato's expression stiffened for a moment. "Following the recipe will definitely be fine! Besides, it's not like I can't cook! I can make simple dishes!"

Having survived a year and a half in a rented apartment in Japan, Natsukawa Tora believes he would never starve if he were to work alone in a big city, even if he couldn't do wilderness survival.

"Okay, it's decided. For dinner, we'll have scrambled eggs with tomatoes and stewed beef with potatoes. I'll also go over there and buy a bag of seaweed to make seaweed and egg drop soup—the teacher's message... [Just buy some kitchen utensils. The stove and such can be solved with magic, and the refrigerator too]."

“Brother, Miss Orange isn’t planning to use fire magic to cook, is she?” Gray asked. “I remember Miss Meryl tried it once before, and she almost blew up the kitchen.”

"As for the teacher, everything should be alright, right?"

Aozaki Touko's magic circuits possess an overwhelming precision, which is also reflected in her control over magic. It's unlikely that something like Merry blowing up the kitchen would happen—by the way, wasn't it Natsukawa Torato who was in charge of starting the fire that time?

(This time I didn't start the fire, so everything will be fine!)

After comforting himself with this thought, Xia Chuanhu began searching for a place to buy pots and pans.

(Speaking of which, if you're going to cook for yourself, there are actually quite a lot of things to buy, like dish soap, towels, trash cans, and trash bags.)

"Ah ah!"

While walking and thinking, Natsukawa Tora didn't notice someone emerging from behind the shelf next to him. Hearing her exclamation, he quickly stopped and went over to help her up: "Sorry, I was thinking about something. Are you alright? Did you bump into something again?"

"No, it's okay, I'm fine..."

The black-haired girl rubbed her legs and stood up. As she stood up and revealed her face, Natsukawa Tiger's eyes widened involuntarily.

(This person is... Kurokiri Senka?)

Another familiar stranger.

What a coincidence.

15. High-strength paper-resistant Ma Zili

Black tung blossoms.

I don't know much about this famous Type-Moon actress, Natsukawa Tora. After all, when I watched Kara no Kyoukai back then, I was too busy watching Ryougi Shiki eliminate her love rivals and the Ryougi couple showing off their love. I learned about most of the other characters, including Aozaki Touko, later.

In addition, due to the various things that happened after he transmigrated, Natsukawa Torato only had two relatively deep impressions of the Black Kiri flowers.

One is that she is the younger sister who also has inappropriate thoughts about her older brother, Kurogiri Miki.

The other is that she is Aozaki Touko's disciple.

Otherwise, I'd have to think hard to remember.

After helping Kurohiri Senka pick up all the things that had fallen on the ground and return them to her, Natsukawa Torata paused for a moment before saying, "Um... excuse my intrusion, but may I ask you a question?"

"Huh? A question?"

With a wary look at Natsukawa Tora, and after sizing him up a few times, Kurohiri Senka nodded: "May I ask?"

Do you know a woman named Ryougi Shiki?

"Ryougi Shiki?"

Kurogiri Senka frowned, then shook her head decisively: "I've heard of the Ryougi family, but I don't know anything about Ryougi Shiki. Why are you asking me this?"

"Ah, then I mistook you for someone else. I saw someone who looks somewhat like you with Ryougi Shiki before, so... I'm sorry."

After skillfully concocting a lie to get by, Natsukawa Tora waved his hand: "Sorry to have bothered you, then goodbye—Grey, is there anything else you want to buy? Would you like some snacks?"

"..."

Watching Natsukawa Torama push the cart away, Kurohiri Senka paused for a moment, then scratched her head in confusion: "Has no one told him that he's bad at making up stories? His facial expressions and eyes clearly show that he's talking nonsense."

Although Kokutou Senka hadn't received any special training in reading people's expressions, this only showed that Natsukawa Torato's ability to cover up the truth had deteriorated to the point that even someone without training could see through it.

"But... Ryougi Shiki?"

"That's quite a strange name."

........

Carrying several bottles of seasoning into the shopping cart, Grey glanced in the direction of Kurohiri flowers: "Brother, is that someone you know?"

"No, we've only met a few times before. Shouldn't you buy some snacks or something?"

"Is my brother's wallet not big enough? I feel that after buying furniture and kitchenware, he won't have much money left, so there's no need for unnecessary expenses."

(She's really matured; she's completely become a housekeeper...)

Looking at Grey in this state, Natsukawa Tora didn't know whether to be lucky or unlucky. First, she tidied up the room and managed the schedule, then she kept accounts and managed the money... As time went on, Natsukawa Tora felt that if things continued like this, Grey would have him completely under her thumb.

(His authority as the older brother has completely vanished.)

"Brother, the place for keeping accounts is over there."

"Yes, yes, I'm coming right now."

——————————————————————————————————

After buying groceries and kitchenware at the supermarket, and then purchasing blankets and pillows for the night, Natsukawa Tiger and Gray returned to Garan Hall at 6:30 pm.