[MF] Ch 17: (Transition Chapter)

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The deal between Touko Aozaki and Kaito Kurobane was sealed. Kaito handed over the documents for her research, along with the designs for creating puppet avatars. In return, Touko gained the right to study and use the material, promising she wouldn't pass the techniques on to anyone else.

Truthfully, her own research into puppets followed a very different path from the one in Kaito's notes. But his data was invaluable, a treasure trove of insight that could shave years off her work. Thanks to it, she'd one day step ahead of schedule into her future as the Grand Puppet Maker.

For her, this was no small thing—it was a tremendous favor.

Because for all her pride and unshakable will, Touko lived with the constant sense of walking on thin ice. 'Can I really make it?' That question lingered.

The mage world was full of geniuses, many as gifted as she was. But most burned out along the way, never reaching the top. And with the Mage's Association's Sealing Designation hanging over her, she could hardly claim to be fearless. If she were truly that confident, she wouldn't be holed up in Mifune City. She'd be roaming the world already.

And that was exactly what she'd do later, once she became the Grand Puppet Maker. Once she no longer had to care about the Association, she wandered freely, even striding into the Clock Tower itself while the Association could do nothing to stop her.

In truth, Touko was a restless woman by nature. Staying put like this was only because she feared what might happen if she slipped up.

Caging a storm wind like her was only possible because she had no better choice.

So when Kaito dropped this research into her lap, it was like firewood in the middle of winter. On top of that, he threw in money and supplies—enough to give her confidence she'd make it through the lean season.

This was the kind of favor you never really finished paying back.

A less principled magus would have thought, ''Better to kill him and take it all.'' Or, more deviously, treat such generosity as unbearable debt and plot Kaito's downfall to erase the weight of it.

But Touko wasn't that type. She might not have been a saint, but she was too proud to repay kindness with malice. Instead, she'd rack her brains figuring out how to return the favor.

And if she couldn't?

Well, she'd laugh it off. "What's one more debt?" After all, Touko Aozaki was already infamous for her debts. Nasu's readers knew her as one of the setting's great freeloaders. She borrowed money left and right, sometimes even in her sister Aoko's name, living her best life under the motto of "financial freedom through endless borrowing."

The only reason she hadn't been hunted down and enslaved as a debt-slave was because she was strong enough to make creditors think twice.

And while she did repay debts—eventually—her expenses on puppet research always outpaced her earnings, which cemented her reputation as an eternal debtor.

Even so, people still lent her money. Why? Because her completed puppets were worth fortunes, priceless works of art. Whether or not she'd make one depended entirely on her mood. The fees were steep, but in truth, barely covered her costs. In that sense, she was an honest craftsman.

Touko was really an idealistic artist. That's why she made her offer to Kaito: she'd craft two puppet avatars for him, free of charge, as interest on the enormous favor of those documents.

To her, this was nothing more than repaying a little of the knowledge's value. Any other magus, though? They'd demand something in return, maybe even force Kaito to trade the very puppet techniques themselves as payment for just one puppet.

And naturally, the Masked Fool, Kaito, refused to let her shoulder the cost. More importantly, if he didn't help fund it, her progress would crawl. Puppet-making required expensive materials. A lot of them.

And why could Kaito's system-provided techniques be built with materials available in this world? Because the system's loot pool was always synced to the current world. The technology adapted to what existed locally. That meant the components could be found—or bought—right here.

For Touko, a genius already standing on the threshold of Grand Puppet Maker, she needed only to read through Kaito's files once to grasp them. The rest was hands-on application.

To speed things up, Kaito put down real money: one million yen taken from the Yakuza he'd hit, plus four of the six gold bars he'd looted.

They weren't large, just 250 grams each, crudely smelted without stamps, clearly minted by the gang themselves.

This was 1993. Japan was still reeling from the Plaza Accord's economic fallout. It wasn't yet the boom of the later decade. In that context, Kaito's contribution wasn't small at all. With those funds, Touko said the initial stages of puppet production—the material purchases—were covered.

But only the initial stages.

Just the raw components for one puppet would run past ten million dollars. And that was before labor and miscellaneous costs.

Touko herself groaned at the expense, muttering about how ridiculously overpriced the things were. The technology was advanced, sure, but the actual utility was questionable. At best, the puppets could channel some of the user's strength and be controlled remotely. Hardly worth the cost. Kaito was basically throwing money into a pit.

She even suggested he wait, let her refine the technique and merge it with her own, so she could build puppets with genuine practical value.

But Kaito politely turned her down.

Because he didn't need practicality. He didn't intend to use the puppets the "normal" way. For him, their value lay in one unique feature: perfectly carrying his character cards. With them, he could manifest both himself and a card's persona at the same time. That was all he needed.

So while Touko's offer came from goodwill, he refused.

And Touko didn't press. He was the client, after all. If that was what he wanted, that was what she'd make.

As for the money needed, Touko said she'd figure it out herself—already scheming about borrowing another hefty sum under Aoko's name.

Taking advantage of her little sister caused her no guilt at all.

But in the end, she didn't go through with it. Not because of a sudden pang of sisterly conscience, but because Kaito told her he'd handle the money.

All she had to do was focus on building the puppets. As for the gold and other precious metals, she could offload them through her own channels.

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