Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

"The pronunciation of the letter transformation is 'laguz,' which originally means 'water,' so flow is key. When writing, imagine the meaning of flowing water, don't pause when writing, and pay attention to the overall coordination..."

"what about this?"

"【?】 means clarity, flame, inner light, possessing the characteristics of warmth, friendliness, strength, healing, and divine wisdom..."

"next."

"【?】, cattle herds, prosperity, abundance, often used in protective spells and blessings..."

"Okay, I understand. Wait, there's more!"

"..."

Soon, the snake, who was showing off out of vanity, turned his joy into sorrow. Aozaki Touko, whose thirst for knowledge had been aroused, dragged him to a chair and relentlessly pressed him for questions.

After a brief analysis and explanation of all 24 runes, the studious girl reluctantly opened her eyes, which had been vacant, and looked forward to the end of get out of class. Clutching her thick stack of notes and the blackboard covered with runes, she continued to enthusiastically digest and absorb what she had learned that evening.

Having exhausted most of its energy and feeling both hungry and thirsty, the snake, seeing itself being ruthlessly left aside, couldn't help but raise its paws in protest.

"Orange, I'm starving after talking for so long. At least get me something to eat first."

Upon hearing this, the landlord, who was analyzing and organizing the runes, casually opened a drawer and tossed the prepared meals inside to Samael, who was standing next to him.

The ancient snake stared at the stale rice ball in its hand and the unappetizing side dishes in the jar, its face full of disgust.

"Natto again. I'm sick of it, I just can't swallow it."

“Here, use this to swallow.”

The young landlady placed a glass of water in front of the man, continuing to flip through her notes without looking up.

"I can't take it anymore! Is this a life for humans?"

The snake, which had once lived a life of luxury, was now on the verge of tears and made a bitter and indignant complaint to its keeper.

"You're not eating? Never mind then, I can save myself a meal."

Upon hearing this, Aozaki Touko decisively took the rice ball that had been given away and began to eat the extremely bland food with relish, completely ignoring the impotent and furious guy.

After all, she had witnessed similar outbursts more than once in the past few days.

"I want skewers! I want a feast! I want my N9 Wagyu beef! I want my Scotch whisky!"

"Heavens above! Help! This is torture! Illegal imprisonment!"

Throughout the long night, cries of grief and indignation echoed from the dimly lit cabin, reverberating deep into the mountains.

Chapter Seventy-Six: Oranges, No! (6.3k views)

A few days later, at the Magic Workshop.

Samael sat back in the dim light, gazing in awe at the exquisitely detailed runes on the whiteboard.

To be able to master the basic drawing of runes in such a short time, Aozaki Touko can definitely be described as a "genius".

Meanwhile, the genius of the Aozaki family was standing in the open space outside the house, his specially made chalk moving swiftly through the air, forming runes in front of him.

With a thought from Aozaki Touko, several shimmering runes swiftly streaked through the air and crashed into the ancient trees in front of the open space outside the house.

Bang bang bang!

However, when the dull bangs subsided and the smoke cleared, only a few charred marks remained on the trees that had been hit as targets; some trees didn't even have their bark scratched.

Come again!

Aozaki Touko frowned slightly and shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with the result. Her wrist trembled rapidly, and the dust escaping from the chalk traced new runes with even greater speed and skill, launching another practical test.

This time, she increased the injection of magic.

Boom boom boom!

Instantly, several ancient trees were blasted into flying wood chips and shook violently.

However, many runes also lost their accuracy or were detonated prematurely before they could even make contact with their targets.

Wrong, still wrong...

As Aozaki Touko frowned and muttered to herself, she continued to write furiously without stopping. The runes that appeared in front of her were like mortar bullets, whistling through the air with varying pitches, and crashing into the open space in front of her.

But no matter how hard Aozaki Touko tried, the results were always far from her expectations.

After hundreds of trials, she still hadn't gotten the desired result, and Aozaki Touko frowned, looking distressed.

According to the book, the power of runes should not be limited to this level. Why is it still not right? What went wrong?

"The problem is, times have changed..."

Just as Aozaki Touko was racking her brains, a magnetic, deep voice rang out from inside the room, and those deep, piercing eyes seemed to be a mirror that could see right through people's hearts.

"Times have changed? What do you mean?"

The girl carefully pondered the meaning of the words, but still couldn't understand them. She turned her head and looked at the "half-body plaster statue" sitting in the chair with a puzzled expression.

"Simply put, the geographical environment, laws, and concentration of etheric factors in the Age of Gods are vastly different from those in modern times. Therefore, with the reference I have provided, it is not difficult to depict runes. The key is how to improve their applicability based on the existing conditions."

Samael spoke eloquently, dissecting the essence of the problem for Aozaki Touko.

That's it!

As a girl with the reputation of being a "genius," she naturally understood immediately and grasped the key points in an instant.

"In other words, to fully master runes under modern conditions, it would be necessary to readjust the structure of the runes, and even modify the base plate accordingly?"

"Bingo! How clever!"

Samael nodded with a broad smile and snapped his fingers in delight.

As a teacher, I still hope to encounter a smart student who can keep up with my thinking, because that would save me a lot of effort.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come and help me. I want to try to figure out how to fix it."

Seeing Aozaki Touko rush into the room, sit down, and get ready to drag him into a big fight, Samael's face stiffened, and he groaned in pain.

"No way? Come again!"

"Stop rambling and get to work! You promised you'd help me with whatever I asked while I was taking you in!"

Seeing that the "half-length plaster statue" next to her was about to cheat again, Aozaki Touko ruthlessly pushed a thick stack of documents in front of him.

The ancient snake stared at the thick stack of documents on the table, wondering when it would take to decipher them, and was filled with regret, wishing he could slap himself a few times.

Let you show off! Let you flaunt your skills! Let you be so foul-mouthed!

However, seemingly out of a rare moment of conscience, Aozaki Touko kept two-thirds of the documents for herself, including the most difficult academic manuscripts on the analysis of runes from various dynasties.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon..."

After assigning the tasks, Aozaki Touko patted Samael on the shoulder, comforting him in a gentle voice and making a solemn promise.

Okay, soon...

The person who had once boasted so confidently, now seeing that the die was cast, could only nod bitterly.

Soon... three days and two nights later...

The snake, buried in the pile of paper, had lifeless eyes and its head banged against the table with a loud thud. Then it slumped down on the table in frustration. Its only healthy left hand deftly twirled the chalk, using it as a temporary escape from the tedious academic research.

"finished!"

Finally, after countless days and nights of experimentation, progress was made. Aozaki Touko held up the chalkboard covered with dense lines and various scribbled annotations. Her pale face was filled with the excitement of achieving her goal, and she immediately handed the results to the living dictionary next to her for review.

Samael, who was shaken awake, didn't think much of it at first, but when he picked up the chalk board and looked at it closely, he couldn't help but look at Aozaki Touko who was waiting for a reply with disbelief.

That eerie gaze sent a chill down Aozaki Touko's spine, making her feel like a student being checked by a teacher, her tone instantly dropping several notches.

"What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

"No, it's perfect!"

Samael shook his head repeatedly, examining the reconstructed rune with a solemn expression, and slowly spoke.

"Moreover, it's almost too perfect... Compared to your achievements... Aruba is nothing!"

"Is it that exaggerated?"

Such praise, even belittling the future abbot of Sponheim Monastery, currently revered as a paragon in the world of runes, made Aozaki Touko, who was used to compliments about her talent, feel somewhat embarrassed.

Samael shook his head, pointed to the runes on the whiteboard, and asked with a serious expression.

"After the rune's point correction, not only can you use it, but it is also suitable for most people who study Norse magic, right?"

Upon hearing this, Aozaki Touko nodded casually and shared her opinion.

"That's right. Since we can adjust a set of runes to suit ourselves based on the current conditions, why not simply deduce all the possible arrangements of each rune particle and embed them all into it, so that the pattern can be followed? In this way, people who learn rune magic in the future will not have to spend a lot of energy like I did to deduce a solution that suits them."

"This is where the problem lies!"

Samael gazed wistfully at the genius girl before him, who was completely unaware of just how terrifying her talent was, and pondered deeply.

"Did you know that, based on the experience of those who came before, solving the problem isn't difficult? The key is that you directly derived the entire formula from the existing problems and solutions. Moreover, this is a completely new system that can be applied to most people!"

The ancient serpent was amazed by this, and even more so by her unparalleled talent.

In a daze, Samael recalled Aozaki Touko's seemingly unstoppable future.

In my memory, this genius girl would later rise to the highest rank of Grand Mage due to her extraordinary talent, and be recognized as a Magician by the Mage Association after only three years of study and research at the Clock Tower of the Mage Association headquarters.

In reality, Aozaki Touko did not inherit the magic of the Aozaki family by standing on the shoulders of her predecessors to pick apples and fill the vacancy of the family's magician position, because at that time she broke with the Aozaki family for some reason.

Her contribution to magic lies in her innovative approach: restoring a portion of runes within the constraints of modern technology, thus reviving this gradually lost magic system.

Simply put, in the process of learning runes, a conventional magician would need to spend their entire life creating their own problem-solving approach in order to adapt to the changing times.

Orange's restored runes, on the other hand, directly derived a complete formula and then constructed the decayed rune magic base. Theoretically, any magician with suitable attributes can use it, and some people can even use it better than Orange.

Admittedly, Aozaki Touko's mastery of runes is vastly different from that of Cú Chulainn, Scáthach, and others from the mythical era who possessed complete magical foundations. The power she wields is limited by various conditions and is far inferior to those of the monsters from the age of gods.

However, simply deciphering and restoring a lost ancient script is already an extremely difficult project.

To create a system of runes applicable to the modern world based on the existing laws of the world and the foundation of the earth is simply incredible. Its difficulty is estimated to be second only to Odin's pioneering work on runes under the World Tree.

Based on this alone, Aozaki Touko is far superior to Aruba, the number one member of a rune magic family, who only knows how to parrot others, and can crush his face a thousand times over.

Such talent is truly unique, and it's no wonder that Aruba, who was completely outmatched in every aspect, would regard Orange as his mortal enemy out of jealousy.

Moreover, let alone Aruba, the girl's pioneering spirit and creativity even surpassed that of Samael, who had studied runes with Odin's system.

Samael sighed inwardly, then erased the rune and looked at the genius girl beside him with a deep gaze, offering her earnest advice.

"In the future, do not easily show your newly derived runes to your peers."

"why?"

Aozaki Touko frowned slightly, puzzled.

"Because this thing is too powerful, once it gets out, too many people will want to get it, and then you'll be in danger."

Samael looked out the window at the blood-red setting sun, his gaze deep and dark. He then looked intently at Aozaki Touko beside him, a rare seriousness appearing on his languid face.

As the serpent who bestowed original sin upon humanity, Samael never overestimated the integrity of the human species.

The members of the Magic Association are not exactly benevolent people; their pursuit of knowledge and taboos often borders on madness.

If Aozaki Touko were to reveal that she possesses the technology to revitalize rune magic, it would inevitably cause a huge uproar in the magic world, with countless magicians flocking to her.

Back then, Emiya Norikaze, who only possessed the semi-finished technique of turning magicians into dead disciples and had a rare time-related magic circuit, was still being chased all over the world by the Mage's Association and eventually died in the turmoil on Emmygo Island.

Aozaki Touko paused for a moment, then nodded casually.

"There's nothing to brag about in reviewing just one rune. It's only worthwhile to publish the results after reviewing and reconstructing all twenty-four primordial runes."

Reviewing one rune is nothing, but wanting to reconstruct all the primordial runes? What kind of Versailles statement is this?

Looking at that pretty face brimming with confidence, Samael twitched his lips, feeling a pang of heartache.

Okay, he's jealous.

However, mediocre people are never envied. As long as you protect yourself, do whatever you want.

At this moment, Aozaki Touko, who should have been back to analyzing the document, was staring at the manuscript in her hand, lost in thought. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the figure beside her, and a strange thought began to form in her mind.

Was he concerned about me just now?

In a daze, a question slipped out.

"Are you hungry?"