I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 111

Orange certainly understood what Lion's Robbery Jie Li meant. After all, there was a mastermind waiting in the first class cabin. As a mercenary with integrity, he asked this question out of kindness.

“No need to trouble you. After all, the person inside is now completely powerless.” Orange shook her head and gave an appreciative smile. When she said “powerless,” her eyes turned unusually cold, which made Shizi Jieli, who had been staring at her, shiver.

Since the other party had said so, Shishikage Kairi stopped asking questions and began to "clean up" from the opposite side of Emiya Kiritsugu.

Orange smirked and led Shadow Cat into the first-class cabin.

Inside, waiting for her was a disgruntled Lydel. As soon as Aozaki Touko entered, she snapped, "So slow! How long have I been waiting?!"

Orange ignored Lydel's outburst and instead looked at the woman who had collapsed to the ground, her veins as dark and bulging as her corpse's.

"How does the backlash from the curse feel?" Orange looked down at the magician who was barely surviving on the ground.

The magician turned his head and looked at Aozaki Touko with eyes full of hatred: "Why are you alright!"

"How could this be! We are all, we are all—" The woman wanted to say something, but the curse began to take effect. The immense pain made her eyes widen, but she bit her lip tightly, not wanting to let out the slightest scream in front of her mortal enemy.

Orange looked at her coldly, "You were just saying that we are both of the same sex position, right? But that's just your conjecture. The reason you failed is because you have no idea how strong I really am, it's that simple."

The woman struggled to suppress her pain, her voice completely distorted as she said, "How—could—you—how—could—be—a crown—"

"Yes, that's why you self-righteous magicians like to use common sense to evaluate everything in the world. Even though being a magician is an existence that defies common sense, you still like to use your own self-consistent and distorted worldview to view other people of your kind."

Orange looked at the female magician with pity, who looked utterly incredulous.

"To be honest, I never intended to compete with you for the title of Creator. In your eyes, that may be what you pursue your whole life, but in my eyes, it is just a useless burden."

Orange frowned slightly. "For me, whether I sit on the throne of the Twelve Monarchs or fall into the designated position of the seal, the result is the same. The scenery you see is completely different from the scenery I have already seen."

"You—this kind of—person—is—not allowed—you—" The woman reacted violently after hearing Orange's words, because Orange was trampling on her dreams.

What is a sealing designation? It is a method of imprisoning or capturing magicians with extraordinary talents or those who have broken taboos, under the guise of "protection," and confining them for life.

The specific target is the holder of magic that cannot be learned or cultivated through bloodline or physical constitution (such as: Reality Marble).

The Magicians' Guild treats it as a "valuable item" and "protects" it.

Magicians arrested under the seal of authority are usually preserved in their magical properties and passed down as valuable samples to future generations.

In a sense, it's no different from a specimen preserved in formalin. For the association, the sealing designation is based on goodwill, but for the chosen magician, it's tantamount to a death sentence.

However, this "goodwill" completely disregards the subjective wishes of the parties involved.

Comparing this to the thrones of the twelve monarchs of the Clock Tower, this humiliation is far more unbearable for a woman aspiring to the throne than the pain she is currently suffering.

"Yes, for people like you who are only concerned with fighting for power and profit all day long, instead of focusing on the research of demonic arts, what I'm saying must be considered extremely treasonous, right?"

Orange nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, that's enough said. Now, here's your choice: do you want to live or die?"

Without dwelling on those questions, Orange asked directly, "I've already wasted enough time on you. I'm still quite hungry, so let's not waste my meal time."

The woman struggled for a long time before finally turning her gaze to Lydia.

"Don't think that just because you have the backing of the Forensic Department, Lydia will plead for you. You should know that Lydia is my good friend, and what you did almost implicated her. Why would she help you?"

Hearing Orange's words, Lydia rolled her eyes. "When did I become your best friend? Don't flatter yourself!"

"Oh, Yuzhu and I are best friends, and you're Yuzhu's confidante. If we discount this indirect relationship, aren't we just good friends?" Next came the stage of accepting the fruits of victory, so Orange took off her glasses and began the next negotiation with a less sharp personality.

"I—want to live—" Watching Touko and Lydel playfully fighting, the woman quickly gave up. After all, she knew what kind of person Lydel was usually, and now, with this casual attitude towards Touko, she, the loser, was not taken seriously at all.

“A smart choice~” Orange smiled and squatted down. “Then, with these documents signed, our problems can be wiped clean.”

"As a sign of sincerity, I'll lift the curse from your body before you sign." With that, Orange placed her gold-gloved hand on the woman's face.

With a hiss, a wisp of white smoke appeared where Orange had pressed, and then a ring of green cuneiform characters floated in the air on the glove.

“Runes?” Lydia looked at the somewhat unfamiliar cuneiform script and asked, a little surprised.

Although the Archerlot family rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution, it doesn't mean their lineage began then. Therefore, Lydel is no stranger to the ancient magic of the Norse system.

But to her surprise, the arrangement of the runes in Aozaki Touko's hand was unlike anything she had ever seen before.

The purification of the curse was completed quickly, and the woman lay on the ground, panting heavily, soaked to the bone, like a dehydrated fish, her heart filled with despair.

She was unaware of Aozaki Touko's assessment of the Voudou spell, which she considered to be pushed to its limit, in economy class earlier. However, due to the spell's backlash, she was unable to resist the curse, which had already been weakened by half, despite using all her strength.

Comparing herself to the unharmed Aozaki Touko in front of her now, she finally understood the insurmountable distance between herself and Aozaki Touko.

Orange returned to Lydel's private room and carefully examined her own corpse. Traces of the curse still remained on the body, but they had mostly faded.

Lydia walked beside her and said bluntly, "Get rid of this doll right now. I can't even have a heart to drink tea while I'm looking at her!"

Indeed, as a corpse of someone who has died under a curse, no matter how beautiful the person who was cursed may be, the manner of their death is still unsightly.

Orange glanced at Lydia apologetically and said in a joking tone, "I'm really sorry, but if even the British, who consider tea one of the three great desires of life, say that, then I must be guilty of a terrible crime."

“Shadow Cat.” After saying that, Orange kicked the smiling cat at her feet. Then, the flat smiling cat grinned and swallowed Orange’s corpse in front of Lydel and Orange.

Finally, the cat opened its mouth and let out a silent burp. The reason we knew the cat had burped was because the burp appeared as a cartoonish image.

Lydia's eye twitched, and she looked at the cat's owner with an expression that said nothing.

"Oh dear, why are you looking at me like that? Do you also think my familiar is cute?" Orange sat back in her original spot and looked at Lydel with a leisurely air.

Chapter 252 Self-Forced Testimony

"Oh dear, why are you looking at me like that? Do you also think my familiar is cute?" Orange sat back in her original spot and looked at Lydel with a leisurely air.

Lydia really wanted to say something like, "What kind of weird aesthetic sense do you have?", but she held back in the end.

The female magician from the forensic department stood up again, paused for a moment, and then walked over to Aozaki Touko. Touko, seeing this, said to her, "Now let's talk about compensation. Actually, there's not much to talk about. I've already prepared my demands, and it's up to you whether you accept them or not."

As she spoke, she reached out to the shadow cat, which opened its mouth and spat out a rolled-up parchment scroll.

"My requirements are all written here. As for whether or not you should sign this self-mandatory certificate, that's your choice."

Orange, all smiles, handed the scroll to the woman, then picked up her knife and fork again and continued eating the scones she hadn't finished.

The so-called Self Geas Scroll, or "self-enforced Scroll," is a magical contract used by magicians when making an agreement that cannot be broken.

This is the most absolute guarantee made to prevent breach of contract.

One of the most impartial contract spells used in the cutthroat world of magicians to establish an agreement that must never be broken.

The contract is usually carried on a parchment scroll and includes the binding technique, the bound object, the formal content of the oath, the conditions for fulfilling the oath, the signature of the oath-taker (the bound person), etc.

By utilizing the magic crest's function, a "Geas" curse is inflicted upon the caster, and in principle, its effect cannot be removed by any means. Once the magician signs the certificate and fulfills the oath conditions, the certificate becomes effective.

This is a law that magicians must absolutely obey, and it is also an extremely powerful technique that can even bind the soul.

If you agree to the contract recorded on this scroll, and you break the contract, no matter who you are, you will absolutely not be able to escape the effects of this spell.

Even if one were to risk their life, once the magic mark is passed down to the next generation, the soul will be bound even after death. It is a dangerous technique that can never be reversed.

For a magician, presenting this document in negotiations actually means making concessions to the maximum extent possible.

Therefore, in the eyes of the female magician in the forensic department, Aozaki Touko, as the victor, taking out this item meant that the other party had no intention of killing her.

That's why, after carefully reading the terms above, she weighed the pros and cons.

The terms of this document are not harsh; in fact, they are mutually beneficial. Most importantly, there are no loopholes in these terms, and the costs paid by both parties are equal.

In short, he must regard Aozaki Touko as his master, and Touko, as his master, has the obligation to improve his status in the Clock Tower.

There are ten more detailed supplementary clauses, but they are all supplementary explanations around this core. After reading this document, which is more like a contract than a certificate, the woman looked at Aozaki Touko with a complicated expression and asked, "What exactly do you want?"

Orange looked her up and down, then said in a tone that was hard to believe, "I want a stable environment. I don't have time to manage the Clock Tower anymore, but you're quite capable, Senior Sister. If you work steadily, you can definitely get that position. When I get what I want, you can take the blame if there are any problems. Wouldn't that be great?"

Orange didn't hide anything from the other party, "Besides, we're all smart people. Those cannon fodder outside can just die, but your status is different, senior sister. If you die, there will be a lot of trouble. This won't benefit either of us. Since that's the case, I might as well let you maximize your benefits."

After hearing Orange's words, the woman remained silent, then she signed her name in her own blood on the parchment.

She placed the scroll in front of Aozaki Touko, then knelt down on the ground, prostrating herself in submission.

Orange put down her knife and fork, wiped her mouth, and with an elegant gesture picked up the already effective contract document, rolled it up again, and let Shadow Cat swallow it back into her stomach.

Seeing that everything was over, Lydel looked at Aozaki Touko with a complicated expression, "You expected this all along, so you even prepared something like this?"

"Of course not. I didn't expect who this self-mandatory certificate would be for." What Orange meant was that she didn't care who the recipient was. Only those she valued were worthy of her producing this certificate.

"What is the purpose of all this?" Lydel couldn't understand Aozaki Touko's actions. Putting aside the fact that Touko's talent would eventually lead her to the top of the Clock Tower, it seems that her talent, methods, and even vision have already exceeded expectations.

Lydia had already foreseen the sensation that would ensue in the magic world when they learned of Aozaki Touko's true strength in the near future.

—The Grand Magician, not yet twenty years old.

If Lydia hadn't witnessed the attack herself, she certainly wouldn't have believed it.

However, the facts were right in front of her: the body that was so realistic—no, it should be said that it was a real body that completely ignored the anti-magic power of curse magic, the incomprehensible runes, the alien familiar that clearly belonged to imaginary number magic, and even the pair of golden gloves she was wearing.

All of this demonstrates that Aozaki Touko has indeed reached the Grand rank, and this is part of what Aozaki Touko has deliberately revealed.

As an ally, Lydel knew that the plane was actually one of Aozaki Touko's workshops, and that it contained a Mystic Eye that she had never used, not to mention that she hadn't cast any magic this time.

Furthermore, Aozaki Touko has connections with Alastor Academy, which even led the Creativity Department to endorse her, making the Creativity Department the most important link between the entire Clock Tower and Alastor Academy.

"Why?" Orange picked up Shadow Cat and placed it on her lap. "For a stable environment, I don't have time to deal with those trivial matters, so I had no choice but to resort to this."

Orange, like the shadow cat, looked lazy, and Lydia was clearly dissatisfied with this perfunctory answer.

"Alright, I know what you want to ask, but it has nothing to do with you. As long as you don't deliberately damage our relationship, I guarantee that all my actions will be harmless to you."

Balance and stability are traditions that the Clock Tower has always maintained, and Touko Aozaki is well aware of this. However, it is precisely because of this tradition that the Clock Tower is too slow to respond to changes in the world.

Although Orange won't cause any major changes in the Clock Tower, she knows that in the future, someone will break the Clock Tower's class constraints based on bloodline and inheritance.

In order to safely navigate that turbulent period, Orange planted her own spy, and at the same time openly announced it to Lydel, all in order to hand over her secrets to her ally and solidify the relationship between the two.

Orange believed that even if the naive Lydelle didn't understand this, her attendants would.

Lydel looked at the female magician who was still kneeling on the ground and felt a little discouraged. Aozaki Touko was only a few years older than her, yet she had so easily subdued a Color Rank magician who was among the highest-ranking elites even within the Clock Tower.

If it were me, I wouldn't even consider it. Although I do have some color-rank magicians under my command, those magicians are strictly speaking subordinate to me, existing as allies rather than under my command.

Compared to Orange, a color-position magician who has gained the status of a slave and even has a brighter future, the two are simply incomparable.

"It's infuriating to compare yourself to others," Lydia muttered under her breath, then glared at Orange with resentment.

"Yeah, it's really infuriating to compare yourself to others. There's no way you heirs from wealthy families who have everything from birth can compare to me, who was stripped of my inheritance rights. I'm so envious and jealous!" Orange teased.

Orange's rebuttal left Lydel speechless. She had almost forgotten that Orange's trip back to Japan was to resolve the issue of the Aozaki family's inheritance rights. Compared to Orange, who was deprived of her family's inheritance rights for no reason and was even ostracized from the moment she arrived at the Clock Tower, Lydel had far more resources than Orange from the very beginning.

In other words, if one's achievements are so far inferior to the other's, it can only be attributed to one's own lack of effort.

After all, the Aozaki family has never had anything worth mentioning besides "magic," let alone Touko's achievements, which she obtained from scratch.

In retrospect, Aozaki Touko's true value lies not in the Aozaki family behind her, but in everything she herself has created with her own hands.

“Orange, if things really can’t be salvaged, I’d like to invite you to join our Archerlot family.” With that thought in mind, Lydel sat up and spoke to Orange with unprecedented seriousness.

“In the name of May Lydelle Archerlot, I guarantee that if you join us, the position you will attain will absolutely not be below that of me, the next head of the family.”

Orange was taken aback by Lydel's attitude. She looked at the serious-looking girl with amusement and asked, "You have so little confidence in me?"

Lydia wasn't sure what Orange's words implied, but that didn't stop her from speaking frankly: "If you really want to reclaim your inheritance, your biggest enemy isn't your sister, but the sorceress Aozaki. I don't think you have any chance of winning."

Orange sighed, "Yes, even a Grand Magician has no chance against a mage, but who said I went back this time because of the family inheritance issue?"

Upon hearing Orange's words, Lydia's eyes widened in surprise: "What? You didn't go back this time because—"

Orange waved her hand, signaling her not to get too excited. "That's what they say, but from the beginning, I had no intention of inheriting the magic of the Aozaki family. Before going to the Clock Tower, I knew that the Fifth Magic was not something that belonged to me, and I had no interest in it."

These words were like a thunderbolt. Everyone in the first-class cabin stared blankly at Aozaki Touko, even the woman who had been kneeling on the ground couldn't help but raise her head.

Magic is the supreme existence.

This is a consensus among all magicians. Only five miracles have survived to the present day and can be called "magic." And these five miracles are the path that leads directly to the ultimate pursuit of magicians.

There are two categories of magic: one is magic created in order to reach the Root, and the other is magic obtained after reaching the Root.

Although the origin of the rumor is unknown, it is generally accepted in the magic world that the First and Fifth Magic are magics obtained after reaching the Root, while the Second, Third, and Fourth Magic are magics created in order to reach the Root.

However, to learn magic, one must be able to access the Root. Only those who return from the Root can become magicians, and the ultimate pursuit of magicians is the Root. In other words, magicians are those who have reached the Root.

The Aozaki family's "magic" is unusual because Touko and Aoko's grandfather discovered the path to the Root through their own spiritual veins, followed this path to reach the Root, and then obtained the Fifth Law.

He then stored the Fifth Law, or rather the means to reach the Root, on his Magic Crest. Anyone who inherits the Aozaki family's Magic Crest can obtain the "Fifth Law".

Through Yue Zhengling's manuscript and the orange that exchanged memories with him from another world, he already knew that the "Fifth Law" was not for him.

She is exceptionally talented as a magician, but her magic circuits are not compatible with the Fifth Magic. In contrast, Aoko's magic circuits are best suited for the Fifth Magic. Therefore, in the story called "Witcher's Night," Aoko inherits the magic crest of the Aozaki family and her grandfather.

If she only knew the story, Orange might still be unconvinced, because magicians are all stubborn and extreme. But before she could ask her grandfather, the memories of the apocalyptic world transformed that "story" into experience for her.

Having fully grasped the cause and effect, and even obtained something more suitable for her than magic, Orange no longer had any obsession with the Fifth Law. At most, she just wanted to see it for herself and see if it differed from the "experience" in her memory.