Waver, who had made the same gesture, chimed in. "Yeah, and I've got this really unpleasant feeling in my gut, too."
"What a coincidence. Me too."
"..."
"..."
"Damn it! Matou Shinji!" ×2
Almost simultaneously, master and apprentice blurted out the same name.
High EQ: You Drank Too Much British Water
Although Second Master had dinner with Touko that evening, nothing happened between them.
Just as Shinji had said, the dinner was nothing more than a bribe to get Touko to accompany him to the Clock Tower.
Touko herself was annoyed that Shinji thought he could buy her off with a single meal. She was one of the greatest modern Magecraft toolmakers, after all. How could she be worth only one dinner?
At least two dinners!
Clearly, aside from Magecraft, Miss Touko's horizons weren't all that broad.
Bringing Touko along to the Clock Tower hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision on Shinji's part. He'd considered it carefully.
Shinji had two main reasons for going to the Clock Tower this time. One was to inform Kenseth and Waver about the FZ shoot, so they could prepare in advance and arrange the filming schedule.
The other was to strengthen cooperation between the Mage Families and get them to contribute to Shinji's entertainment empire plans.
However, Shinji knew full well that the Mage Families were no pushovers. After FSN became a hit, it was hard to say whether some of them might get ideas of their own.
Bringing Touko along would keep any Mage Families with ulterior motives from pushing their luck.
It wasn't that Touko herself was especially impressive. Her presence represented Shinji's position: if they went too far, he'd stop working with them and go straight to Japanese mages instead!
As a mage who wandered all over the world, Touko had seen it all. She naturally guessed why Shinji had asked her along.
But in exchange for that lavish dinner, she didn't object to her junior using her as leverage. She'd just treat it as a publicly funded trip to Britain.
After all, in this world, the Mage's Association hadn't designated Touko for sealing, so she could come and go from the Clock Tower as she pleased.
"The air in this country is as awful as ever."
Shinji dragged a suitcase along a London street and looked up at the foggy sky, making a sarcastic remark.
"Yeah. It hardly ever gets sunny, all year round." Touko, following behind him, nodded in agreement. "There's so much moisture in the air. It really gets in the way of making tools."
"That sounds rough."
Shinji laughed easily.
After arriving in Britain, Shinji hadn't gone straight to the Clock Tower. He'd first toured the city to check on FSN's promotional campaign, then leisurely ate a meal at the Royale Restaurant before setting off for the Clock Tower in the suburbs.
People had a misconception about British food. Jokes about its appalling cuisine were every bit as common as jokes about France.
But anyone who'd actually lived in Britain for a while would know that British food wasn't as terrifying as its reputation suggested.
A lot of the infamous British dishes shared online weren't even eaten by British people themselves. Plenty of them didn't even know their country had such bizarre dishes.
Of course, that didn't mean British food was especially good. Compared with French and Italian cuisine, its flavors did fall somewhat short.
British desserts, on the other hand, tasted quite good. They were even famous throughout Europe—for good reasons.
But like most British food, British desserts contained a lot of butter, sometimes so much they became sickeningly rich.
No wonder there were so many overweight people in Britain.
For the sake of his health, Shinji rarely touched British desserts. He'd only eaten a small cookie for appearances' sake.
"Even so, I still find it too rich."
Shinji smacked his lips and spoke with resignation.
By then, Shinji and Touko had reached the outskirts of London. Through the fog, they could just make out a building in the distance that looked a lot like Big Ben.
Strictly speaking, the Clock Tower wasn't all that remote. But barriers that kept people away had been set up around it, so there weren't many pedestrians on the street. Only Clock Tower mages hurried past them.
"What a waste." Shinji felt the familiar magical energy of the barrier and grumbled. "They're using Ley Line energy for something so pointless. They might as well give it to me to summon a Heroic Spirit."
Touko pushed up her glasses and replied with a hint of sarcasm, "You know that to those old geezers, 'hiding the Mysteries' is what matters most."
"Then they shouldn't recruit ordinary people with Magecraft talent as new students every year." Shinji gave a cold laugh. "They hide the Mysteries, but not completely. A perfect example of having it both ways."
Touko spread her hands. "Can't be helped. Those old men have a flexible moral code when it comes to 'hiding the Mysteries.' After all, if no one's left to inherit their Magecraft, then there's no point hiding it, is there?"
It was obvious that neither Shinji nor Touko had any respect for the Clock Tower's old-fashioned leaders.
They made their way toward the old fogeys' stronghold while complaining about them.
It was afternoon tea time, and the cafés lining the street were full of Clock Tower students who didn't have classes.
Some sat alone in corners, quietly working on their assignments. Others gathered with friends, chatting over tea.
As Shinji walked by, quite a few students greeted him.
"Hey, Shinji. You're back."
"Long time no see, Mr. Matou."
"Hey, Matou."
"You're pretty popular," Touko said as Shinji kept waving to people. "Unlike me. Nobody even recognizes me anymore."
"That's because you graduated years ago, senpai. I was still here last year."
Shinji lifted his nose smugly.
But before Second Master could enjoy his triumph for long, someone deliberately shouted, "Matou, back at the Clock Tower to hit on girls again?"
Shinji widened his eyes. "How can you just accuse me out of nowhere—"
"What do you mean, 'accuse'? I saw you harassing that little girl from the Atollholm Family with my own eyes last time. You were huddled together in a corner. Who knows what you were doing?"
Shinji flushed and protested, "Does chatting up a girl count as hitting on her? ...Hitting on her? Your Master Shinji was complimenting a girl. How can you call that hitting on her?"
He went on with a string of incomprehensible words: "Magecraft exchanges," "bodily fluid transactions," and so on, making everyone burst into laughter.
The street was filled with cheerful laughter.
"Seems you really are popular," Touko teased, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
"Ahem. Those little punks are just jealous of me."
Shinji seemed to have forgotten that, if you went by his actual age, he was younger than those students.
"Don't worry. I'll show them how cruel society can be." Shinji muttered in a voice only he and Touko could hear. "I've memorized the names of everyone who joined in. I hope they don't take any courses in the Modern Magecraft Department. Otherwise, I'll show them what it means to have endless homework."
Smack.
Touko suddenly grabbed Shinji by the shoulder and leaned in. "That's a pretty malicious revenge plan. But there's something I'd like to know."
"Go ahead."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Shinji's temple. The force with which Touko was squeezing his shoulder gave him a bad feeling.
"That Atollholm Family that guy mentioned... it wouldn't happen to be that Atollholm Family, would it?"
"Uh... I'm not too familiar with the surnames of those Mage Families. Anyway, it's getting late. We should hurry inside the Clock Tower..."
Touko stopped Shinji from escaping by pressing down on his head.
"You little brat! You're chasing girls all the way to my teacher's family now?!"
After Shinji swore on the crystal chandelier in Kenseth's house that nothing had happened between him and the girl from the Atollholm Family, Touko finally let him off the hook. Only then could they continue to their destination: the Clock Tower's Modern Magecraft Department.
Bang!
"Kenseth! I'm dropping by!"
Without waiting for anyone to announce him, Shinji brazenly knocked open the door to Kenseth's office.
"Matou Shinji! So you really are the reason I've been sneezing!"
Kenseth had been marking student papers. When he saw the uninvited visitor, the veins in his forehead immediately started throbbing.
But Shinji seemed not to notice Kenseth's expression, which looked like he was badly constipated. He strode into the office, plopped down on the sofa, and began looking around.
As one of the Clock Tower's twelve Lords, Kenseth's office was so luxurious it hardly looked like a teacher's workplace. It was more like an aristocrat's lavish reception room.
Shinji ran his hand over the sofa's armrest, estimating how much the antique furniture might be worth.
As for Kenseth, whose forehead was bulging with veins, Shinji had long since ignored him.
When Shinji continued to ignore him, Kenseth took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.
"Professor..."
The student standing beside Kenseth's desk was trembling. He'd never known that the always-elegant department head could get so furious at the Clock Tower.
To avoid becoming an outlet for the professor's anger, the student could only make himself as small as possible and try to look as inconspicuous as he could.
"Hmph."
Though Shinji had infuriated him, Kenseth had too much class to take it out on a student.
He gave a cold snort and said to the student, "I have a guest, so we'll move your paper review to tomorrow morning. Also, go find Professor Velvet and tell him I need to speak with him."
"Of course."
The poor student seemed to have been granted a pardon. He grabbed his papers and fled the office as fast as he could.
"Hey, Shinji, don't go too far," Touko quietly reminded him, poking him with her finger.
She had a good impression of Kenseth. He and her teacher were among the few Lords at the Clock Tower she didn't dislike.
Unlike the Kenseth in FZ, the Kenseth in this world had earned the title of Lord but not the title of child prodigy.
In an era when the Mysteries were in decline, Kenseth was talented, but not enough to set him apart from most mages.
That was actually a good thing for Kenseth. Since no one had put him on a pedestal, he wasn't as arrogant and condescending as he was in FZ.
Instead of caring about bloodlines and fame, this department head paid more attention to each student's individual talent.
Kenseth had been the one to discover Waver's astonishing talent for Magecraft theory and take him under his wing as his direct disciple.
His unwillingness to be bound by tradition had made him popular with many Clock Tower students. They liked how serious he was about his academic work and how friendly and approachable he was in person.
It had also made Touko regard this Lord in a new light.
Despite Touko's warning, Shinji remained as casual as ever.
"It's fine. Kenseth and I are old friends. He won't mind."
"Of course I mind. If I minded, you'd have driven me to an early grave by now," Kenseth replied irritably, setting a teapot filled with tea leaves on the table.
Touko noticed there was no water in the teapot. She was just about to ask whether he'd forgotten it when Shinji reached out first.
"Nice. I like the black tea here best. It's always top quality."
Shinji casually slipped a tin of black tea from the tray into his pocket, then took out a bottle of water and poured it into the teapot.
Smack.
At Shinji's snap, a small flame appeared beneath the teapot.
"???"
Touko stared at Shinji's familiar routine, utterly baffled.
Kenseth, at least, was used to it.
"You're still the same. You never drink British water."
"Obviously. The water here has too much calcium. Drink enough of it and you'll go bald."
As he spoke, Shinji deliberately glanced at Kenseth's forehead.
Before you continue