The Tower of Sun.
The Tower of Moon.
The Twin Towers of Iselma.
The carriage stopped in front of the Moon Tower. It was said that the Moon Tower was the residence of the Iselma family, while the Sun Tower was used as guest rooms for visitors.
"Please co this way... Well then, I wish you both a pleasant ti."
The coachman nodded to the guests, and after the last person got off, the coachman and carriage simply vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a small toy soldier and a miniature carriage, as if a fairy tale had co to life.
Strangely, two nas floated into Shinji's mind: Kujo and Alice.
Two nas, one person, an old friend of Aoko and Touko. Although he had never t her, Shinji knew she was a witch skilled in fairy tale magecraft, from England. Could she have so connection to this place? Perhaps it was because of Aoko's introduction that Iselma was able to secretly connect with her.
While Shinji was pondering this, the problem student of the El-lloi classroom started clamoring again.
"Ooh~ It turned into a toy, how interesting! How did they do that? Can I learn it too?"
Flat's eyes were shining.
"Are you an idiot?"
Svin didn't hide his contempt.
"How could they teach outsiders this kind of family secret technique?"
"But we have the super invincible, Clock Tower's number one Great Big Ben☆London Star—Ow!"
Before he could finish, he was hit on the back of his head. Looking back, he saw a young lady in noble attire holding up her hand.
"Aww, Reines."
"Although I don't dislike such a familiar way of addressing , you should be more dignified. You're supposed to be the most senior among the current students, aren't you?"
"...If I may interject, Miss Reines. I ca a month earlier than Flat."
Hearing Svin's protest, Reines couldn't help but laugh.
"Is that so? Then you two should be even more dignified. We're not in the classroom now, we're all representatives of the El-lloi classroom."
Seeing this scene, Shinji also laughed. With Reines's prestige in the classroom, Waver would never be able to shake off this young lady in his lifeti.
On the other side, Waver was talking to a middle-aged man who had co out of the tower. He appeared to be around forty-five years old, with brown hair, wearing a crimson suit, and holding a cane in one hand - the classic attire of an English gentleman.
"I hope we haven't embarrassed ourselves, Lord Iselma."
"Not at all, Professor Velvet. It's my honor to see the talented individuals from your classroom."
The middle-aged gentleman bowed with standard etiquette, addressing the young n and won who had ceased their playful behavior.
"I am Byron Valualeta Iselma. Please co in, the banquet has already begun."
...
Under the high ceiling of the banquet hall, solemn light overflowed.
Thick carpets covered the floor, but there was no stuffy feeling. The hall was filled with cool air and jazz-style music.
The lody evoked images of a distant sea, with trumpets as lodious as the tides, piano as delicate as ripples, and double bass solidly supporting the undercurrent. More surprisingly, the perforrs of this piece were not humans, but chanical dolls. It seed that Iselma was determined to maintain the fairy tale style throughout.
"As expected of the legitimate branch family of the Creation Departnt," Waver murmured in admiration.
Flat's eyes were shining again, but rembering Reines's warning, he finally suppressed his curiosity. He and Svin each took a drink and retreated to a corner, whispering to each other.
Not far from the two, Reines was greeting guests alongside Waver. Since Waver rarely attended social gatherings, Reines first led him around to introduce him, in case acquaintances ca to greet him and he couldn't rember their nas.
Gray quietly followed behind the two. At tis like this, she beca like a shadow, watching and listening but not speaking.
As for Shinji, he appeared to be with Svin and Flat but was secretly observing the layout of the entire banquet hall and the distribution of personnel.
"Trambelio, Trambelio, Trambelio, luastea, Trambelio, luastea, Trambelio, oh, finally a Bartholoi."
Here, Bartholoi, Trambelio, and luastea refer to faction nas. Roughly counting, Trambelio as the dominant faction accounted for over half of the attendees. Among the rest, a large portion was luastea, while Bartholoi only accounted for about 10% - and among this 10%, there wasn't a single core mber of Lorelei's inner circle, at least not on the surface.
In the depths where the spiral staircase connected to the second floor, there was a protruding platform. If there were no surprises, that should be the stage where the exhibit of this event would be presented.
Opposite the stage, in a position that could achieve the sa effect as the stage, was the entrance to the Moon Tower. Above the grand doors, there--!!!
The mont his eyes turned towards the doors, Shinji's body trembled, and half of the drink in his hand spilled onto the floor.
He saw a person, a familiar woman, a woman who had left him three years ago, never contacting him, never responding to his ssages.
With a hair color rare among Easterners, eyes that reflected her profession, and a body and appearance that had been frozen in ti since who knows when.
Aozaki Touko.
Found you, finally found you.
The most beautiful woman in the Clock Tower, and the task entrusted by Lorelei, were all secondary. Even without these reasons, he would have found a way to co here, by any ans necessary.
Because this was the only place he knew where she might appear. If he missed this chance, he might never see her again. With her current abilities, if she truly wanted to hide from him, he would never be able to find her.
He put down his glass.
He used all his strength to calm the trembling caused by excitent.
He held his breath and focused, suppressing all his biological signatures to the lowest level.
Quietly, just so quietly.
Without attracting any attention, especially not hers, he stealthily moved behind her at the fastest speed.
Then - he wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear.
"Caught you..."
"You caught ..."
Touko, who was embraced, showed no panic at all as if she had anticipated this. Even though Shinji's physique and voice had changed so much from three years ago, and he had disguised himself before coming, Touko still recognized him, even faster than he had recognized her.
"But you're a bit later than I expected."
"Because I was too excited, I was afraid you'd notice and run away again, so I took a little more ti to find the right state. Though it seems it didn't make much difference."
Shinji kept tightening his arms, pressing his chest firmly against her back.
"You've grown so tall, but in so ways, you're still like a child."
"Because children can shalessly act spoiled - Touko."
"Hm?"
"Co back."
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