Aozaki Touko.
This was a very famous name in the world of magic, not because of her family name Aozaki and her arguably ridiculous experiences, but more because of her contributions to the world of mystery.
Grand Rank Doll Maker—this was the title people in the industry often used when referring to Touko. As mentioned earlier, since the concept of magic for creating artificial human bodies declined after the seventeenth century, the performance of subsequent dolls was far inferior to antiques from several hundred years ago. No matter how great the doll maker, they could not create works that surpassed their predecessors.
However, Touko managed to do it, not only creating combat automata comparable to medieval standards but also breaking the absolute rule left behind by predecessors in the golden age of medieval magic, which was [even if creating dolls that surpass humans, it is impossible to create something equal to humans], and creating a doll that was exactly the same as herself.
In other words, Touko completed the replication of herself, using a very unique method to possess double, even infinite lives.
Furthermore, she revived Rune Magecraft, whose magic base had long declined, not only magically regenerating the twenty-four common Rune letters as a foundation but also analyzing some primordial Runes that had originally disappeared in the Age of Gods.
Therefore, to commemorate her contributions to the development of magic, the Clock Tower gave her the rank of Grand—and then quickly issued her a Sealing Designation.
It was said that Touko's teacher herself applied for the Sealing Designation for her, truly showing the depth of the teacher-student relationship.
And after the Sealing Designation was issued, Touko immediately disappeared from the Clock Tower and the world of mystery, completely vanishing for nearly ten years. People from the Sealing Designation Enforcement Agency almost searched the entire world but could not find her.
"If the people of the Mage Association knew Aozaki Touko was holding a doll exhibition in a place like this, both the Department of Law and the Sealing Designation Enforcement Agency would definitely chase after her like mad dogs."
Mifune City, in front of a large house, seeing the signboard [Aozaki Touko Doll Exhibition, Welcome] standing outside the door, Naoki couldn't help but smile wryly.
Now was the fifth day since Naoki and Gray returned to Japan. After confirming with Tokiomi that there was indeed a doll exhibition being held in Mifune City, the two immediately went to Mifune City the next day and used Magecraft to search for two full days before finding the doll exhibition held in this corner of the city.
"Brother, is the person you're looking for inside?"
Looking into the large house with curiosity, Gray frowned at the somewhat gloomy interior and slightly clutched the hem of Naoki's clothes.
"It feels... a bit like a village at night."
"In a certain sense, this can already be considered her workshop, so it's natural for it to feel like this outside. But it's okay, as written on the exhibition board, this is just a doll exhibition."
While speaking, Naoki had already pushed open the door of the large house and entered.
*DING-A-LING!*
As the door was pushed open, the doorbell hanging inside immediately rang, followed by a series of footsteps from the depths of the large house. It was clear that they were quite hurried footsteps, like those of a detective who had been searching for evidence and clues for days and was finally about to uncover the truth.
And quickly, in just a few seconds, Naoki and Gray saw the person who had made the footsteps appear at the front corner.
"Oh dear, finally a guest, it seems I was right to extend the rental period by one more day."
With clearly hastily styled red hair, dressed like an office career woman, Touko approached the two with a smile, handing out her business card as she said, "Welcome to the Aozaki Touko Doll Exhibition, esteemed guests. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Aozaki Touko, a professional doll maker. Is there any doll that has caught your attention?"
If the people of the Mage Association saw this scene, they might die of anger.
Touko's handmade dolls, even those made in a hurry, could be considered extraordinary works of art. Just taking one and analyzing it could advance existing doll Magecraft a step further—but she was actually selling them directly! Selling them at a clear price! Not even caring if the visitors were Magus or not!
According to the standards of the Clock Tower, this was already slightly violating the absolute rule of [Concealing Mysteries].
"Miss Touko."
Receiving the business card, Naoki took a deep breath, "Nice to meet you, I am Natsukawa Naoki, please forgive me for disturbing you in the midst of your busy schedule."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Natsukawa. Well, to be honest, I'm not very busy; frankly, you two are my only guests at this exhibition." Touko smiled, "So, is there any doll that has caught your eye? Or even if not, I can make one to order."
"I am a Magus from the Clock Tower, and my visit this time is to humbly request that you accept me as a disciple."
"Excuse me, what did you just say? I didn't quite hear you." The professional smile on Touko's face froze.
Naoki firmly repeated, "I am a Magus from the Clock Tower. I want to learn doll-making techniques, but due to some reasons, I have already been designated as someone from the Department of Spiritual Evocation and cannot transfer to the Department of Creation, so I can only come to you to learn."
"..."
After a few seconds of silence, Touko took off her glasses. The friendly older sister figure from before instantly transformed into a cold and elegant mature woman. The cold aura emanating from her made Gray unconsciously shrink back.
Staring at the seemingly sincere Naoki, Touko asked, "You're really telling a very cold joke, so cold that I can't even laugh. Because you can't transfer to the Department of Creation to learn doll making, so you came to me?"
"Yes."
"For the time being, I won't ask how you found me. What I'm more curious about is, why did you think of looking for me to teach you?" Touko leaned against the wall, asking with a smile, "If it's just to learn doll making, there are many other famous doll makers."
"But you are the strongest doll maker, aren't you?" Naoki said earnestly, "I don't want to learn doll making out of interest or on a whim. Half-hearted doll-making techniques, in my opinion, won't be able to achieve my goal, so I tried my best to find you."
These words made Touko silent again.
Frankly, Naoki's words and actions only aroused suspicion in Touko. Although what he said made sense—she was indeed very strong in doll-making techniques—but just because of that...
"Alright, I'll just ask. What do you need doll-making techniques for? Do you want to create great dolls?"
"I'm not ashamed to say that it's for a man's desire."