Doll

The next morning, Soujuurou Shizuki woke up in his rented room.

He rubbed his head, feeling a sudden emptiness, as if he had forgotten something very important, yet subconsciously believed it wasn't a big deal.

"I should tell the boss... I quit. The pachinko parlor."

Sojuro subconsciously thought that his current terrible condition was due to working three jobs. Although the pachinko parlor paid well, it was too far from his place, and the commute consumed too much energy.

Thinking this, the young man nodded to himself as if he had convinced himself, then jumped off the bed and walked over to the side to dial the pachinko parlor manager's number.

At night, Aoko leaned over and mounted her beloved Interceptor, speeding down the roads of Misaki Town.

The cold night wind of November stung her face, but it had no effect on Aoko.

The Magecraft she had cast on Soujuurou Shizuki was originally just a failsafe to keep him away from her and Touko. She hadn't expected the "historical inertia" to be so strong. Even though Soujuurou Shizuki had only met Touko for the first time last night, he had still been dragged into it.

The current version of Aoko had no interest in a discard like him, abandoned by an assassin organization, nor did she possess the slightly excessive sense of justice of her original timeline self.

So, after reactivating the Magecraft embedded in Soujuurou Shizuki, she deleted his related memories and planted the suggestion to "quit the pachinko parlor."

As for the unfortunate classmate from the mountains losing a lucrative part-time job, it was not within Aoko's scope of concern.

May fortune favor you, young man.

The motorcycle was fast, and Aoko soon arrived at the target park. According to the information she had remotely manipulated Sojuro to secretly obtain from Touko last night, the attack planned by that person would occur tonight at this spiritual vein node, disrupting the barrier set up by the Aozaki family.

Touko, no wonder she owed so much debt in the original timeline and was always short on money.

To be able to destroy a major barrier, an important asset of the Aozaki family, without hesitation, showed how extravagantly she spent money when she went mad.

"A sister who doesn't manage her household well needs to be taught a lesson."

Parking her motorcycle, Aoko took off her helmet and walked into the park.

Thick clouds obscured the starlight, and even the howling strong wind couldn't blow away the heavy darkness in the park.

A clock tower stood in the center of the park, its hands overlapping at midnight. I'll rest at home tomorrow, Aoko thought, sleep is essential no matter what.

Taking a step forward, a massive magic circle, radiating a pale blue magical light, flashed with electricity, spreading out from Aoko's feet. Violent magical energy surged out, ferociously tearing apart the enemy's meticulously arranged concealment Magecraft.

The oppressive atmosphere that had enveloped the park was shattered in an instant, and some enemies hidden behind the curtain were forced out by Aoko's move.

They were several strangely shaped dolls, some resembling mannequins displayed in clothing stores. However, Aoko's common sense told her that a mannequin definitely wouldn't have six arms, and their heads seemed to be connected to a head that looked somewhat similar to hers.

"Such poor taste, Touko."

Aoko mumbled her complaints, but as she watched the dolls crawl towards her like arthropods, she didn't immediately make a move.

The closest doll extended its arm like a spear, thrusting fiercely towards Aoko's cheek.

Just as it was about to touch her, it hit an insurmountable barrier and stopped. It was Aoko's Shield.

Aoko reached out her palm, grabbed the doll whose face resembled hers, and then a strong electric current exploded. The doll's many limbs flailed wildly for two seconds before stopping, as its key structures had been charred to a crisp by Aoko's electric claws.

Casually tossing the "charred corpse" aside, Aoko looked up. The remaining three dolls had clearly seen how Aoko dealt with their kind and immediately halted their advance, scattering to surround Aoko from three different directions.

The three dolls simultaneously raised the arms located at their waists. With the sound of mechanisms operating, they extended curved blades hidden within their arms and then charged forward at high speed while changing positions.

Aoko estimated the distance and the enemies' speed, her hands moving up and down in spellcasting gestures.

First was... Elemental Damage Resistance.

With a flash of spiritual light, Aoko was successfully imbued with a protective school spell that was somewhat incongruous with the current situation. Then, without pausing, she activated the dense Magic Circuits on her body. As the magical energy circulated, Aoko's figure seemed to waver slightly.

By this point, the three dolls were only about five or six meters away from Aoko, but she still stood in place, casting her spells, showing no intention of dodging.

Just as the person hidden behind the scenes wondered what Aoko was doing, she completed her spellcasting gestures. She raised her right foot and stomped it quickly on the ground, and a spherical shockwave centered on Aoko instantly spread out.

An area with a radius of about ten meters, centered on Aoko, was instantly covered in ice. The three dolls were first repelled a short distance by the shockwave, then instantly frozen by the cold effect of Aoko's energy manipulation spell, stopping their movements and causing them to fall to the ground.

Aoko spun around, surveying her results. Then, she took out a notebook from her jacket pocket and a pen, writing and drawing on it.

"Elemental Damage Resistance... Basic Temperature Control Magic, Grade 1... Precise Cancellation of 3rd Circle Ice Burst... Experiment successful."

After finishing her notes, Aoko walked over to the dolls she had destroyed, examining them one by one. After some selection, she found the most intact one, summoned an invisible servant, and had it tie the doll to the back of her motorcycle.

Aoko herself snapped her fingers, summoning blue flames that appeared out of thin air to incinerate the remains of the other dolls.

She looked up at the barrier stone on the central clock tower that had been destroyed and frowned. Then, she took out a new one from her waist bag and sent it up with Mage's Hand, replacing the original barrier stone.

"Destroying family property, disrupting my rest, and sending subordinates to attack the head of the family, hmph, I've noted it all!" Aoko muttered to herself. "When I catch you, I'll give you a good education!"

After reactivating the barrier at the spiritual vein node, Aoko returned to her motorcycle and mounted it.

She cast one last glance at the park, then twisted the throttle without hesitation and left.

Surely even Touko wouldn't lower herself to destroy this barrier again?