Aozaki Aoko Case File

The issue of her magical pet can be set aside for now—Aoko Aozaki is already an independent magi. Although she still studies various forms of magecraft under Alice Kuonji, this learning is more akin to an exchange between scholars in different fields. Aoko has developed unique insights into many areas of magecraft and is happy to share them with Alice, making their exchanges even more fruitful.

Of course, Aoko had also attempted to learn Alice's unique Fairy Tale Magecraft, but she hit a wall trying to grasp the fundamentals, such as the magecraft of the starling familiar from The Sixpence Song. The Fairy Tale Magecraft system, built on a special magical foundation, can only be learned by descendants of the Yumina family, who retain remnants of the First Magic. This inheritance relies on a unique witch's bloodline, and after repeated attempts, Aoko confirmed this fact.

"Membership-only magic, huh?"

Aoko sighed. Perhaps in the future, she'd get the chance to visit Western countries and see if she could learn Thought Textures (a different system of magic entirely). However, that system is granted by the Summit Court, a council of deities, and in some ways, it might be even stricter than a witch's bloodline inheritance.

"Seriously, why is magecraft in this world so exclusive?"

Aoko grumbled.

But truthfully, Aoko's Arcane Magic is even more exclusive. She alone can use it in this world because she possesses a Woven Fragment. She can't even teach this foreign knowledge to others. This is an Otherworldly Law, and Aoko is well aware of it.

Even though she has inherited the Fifth Magic Crest of the Aozaki family and has the advantage of the Woven Fragment, facing the upcoming challenge from her sister Touko remains uncertain.

After all, the golden werewolf Lugh Beowulf is a Phantasmal Species that has achieved soul materialization. Calling it a werewolf is inaccurate, as its essence is closer to that of a fae or a True Ancestor. Aoko believes Lugh Beowulf's combat power far surpasses Yu Mei-ren's, who can repeatedly self-detonate and revive. Lugh Beowulf possesses incredibly high defense and the ability to change its form at will.

However, defeating Lugh Beowulf isn't impossible. Lugh Beowulf is still mentally immature, a brat at heart. In the original timeline, Shizuki Soujuurou managed to scare it off with a desperate last attack that caused it pain. Aoko figures it would be much easier for her to achieve the same result.

There isn't much time left before Touko launches her assault… Aoko doesn't want to lose and ends up with Touko lording over her forever, stuck as the useless little sister with no hope of standing on her own. That's why she's been taking risks lately to gain the power necessary to beat the golden wolf head-on.

In the short term, the best path forward is to open the sealed passage deep within her grandfather's workshop that leads to the Root.

Despite inheriting the Fifth Magic, Aoko hasn't fully mastered its capabilities in the two years since. While she's confident in her talent, time isn't on her side. She's determined not to repeat the original timeline's tragedy, where she had to sacrifice close friends to awaken her abilities.

Thus, she must convince her grandfather's soul to unlock the sealed passage. By traversing this path to the Root, she can gain full access to the Fifth Magic. When her grandfather acquired the Fifth Magic, he sealed the passage afterward. Aoko suspects this wasn't meant for future generations to reopen after making more progress, but rather because her grandfather was tired of being pestered by the forces sent by the Counter Force.

Through her research and memories from her previous life, Aoko deduced that her biggest obstacle on the path to the Root would be the Primate Murderer, Cath Palug—a Beast of Alaya. This oversized version of Fou isn't overwhelmingly strong in a conventional sense, but it holds the absolute authority to kill primates and possesses the Comparative Principle, which hasn't fully matured in her timeline.

Aoko once discussed the issue of the Primate Murderer with her grandfather. His response was, "It's tough to deal with, but not even the First Ancestor could kill me."

Aoko remains skeptical of this. She doesn't know whether splitting her grandfather in half counts as "killed" when it was done by Ryougi Shiki, but considering how casually his soul seems to be walking around, it probably wasn't a big deal. Or maybe her grandfather was just putting on a strong face for pride's sake—otherwise, it doesn't explain why Touko could seal him inside the workshop with magecraft in the original timeline.

To deal with this giant white dog, Aoko has prepared various spell scrolls like Monster Stun, Hold Monster, Misdirection, and Dimensional Door. Since the Primate Murderer is 100% native to Earth, spells like Dismissal or Banishment won't work on it, so Aoko has no choice but to face it head-on. She plans to use her Arcane Magic to stall it long enough to gain full mastery of the Fifth Magic. Once she reaches that point, neither Alaya nor the Primate Murderer will be able to touch her. Her grandfather's carefree life over the years proves that.

...

After making all her preparations and getting herself into peak condition, Aoko set out for her grandfather's workshop.

Before leaving, she told Alice that if she didn't come back, all her possessions in the shared Western-style house should go to Touko as per her will.

Also, even if she made it back, she wouldn't be able to attend school for a while, so she asked Alice to help by notifying the school. There's a bento in the refrigerator that Aoko had prepared for Alice—just heat it and it's ready to eat.

Alice silently watched Aoko leave, feeling some emotion stir in her heart for the first time in a while. Perhaps she was worried about her housemate risking her life, or maybe she was lamenting the possible loss of a long-term meal ticket.

Some clever readers might wonder why Aoko didn't bring Alice along on this journey to the Root. Aoko would answer that there are two main reasons: first, Alice's Fairy Tale Magecraft is highly effective against magus, but when it comes to dealing with the Primate Murderer or a soul-materialized beast like Lugh Beowulf, it's not very useful. Alice might very well be taken out by Cath Palug in a single strike.

That's why Aoko, not wanting her dear housemate to be harmed, decided to face this challenge alone.

Two years had passed since Aoko last visited her grandfather's workshop. The house hadn't changed at all—not even the grass in front of the door seemed to have grown much.

She took a deep breath and entered. The three floors of the house were silent, with no sign of anyone. Aoko headed straight for the entrance to the basement, where her grandfather's true workshop was located. Using the Aozaki family's magic crest, she unlocked the bounded field and descended without hesitation.

Pushing open the door to her grandfather's study in the basement, Aoko saw the chair he had once sat in. On the desk beside it was an open book, though it wasn't the De Profundis she remembered from years ago. It seemed her grandfather, lacking human sentiment, didn't always read the same book.

Aoko paused only for a moment before moving toward the deeper room—the true workshop that her grandfather had forbidden her and her sister from entering since childhood. She suspected that the entrance to the path she sought lay there. Her grandfather's disembodied soul had been guarding this place, preventing anyone from entering.

Now, she had broken through the bounded field, and upon entering, she found her grandfather's translucent spirit.

"Do you want to enter there?" her grandfather asked.

"Are you sure you're stronger than me?"

"Yes," Aoko replied confidently.

"I'm stronger than you, Grandfather, so I'm going to walk the path to the Root."

"Is that so?"

Her grandfather's gaze lowered slightly, and Aoko could sense him thinking.

"So far, no one who's reached there has ever returned alive."

"Why?"

Aoko asked, startled. "Didn't you obtain the Fifth Magic after reaching the Root?"

"Yes," her grandfather replied.

"The First and Fifth were both results of reaching it. But reaching it... well, the truth is, I stopped just before truly entering the gate and turned back. That's how I got this consolation prize."

"So…"

Aoko's eyes widened.

"You only peeked into the Root, Grandfather?"

"Yes," her grandfather sighed.

"Whether you succeed or fail, once you truly touch the Root, there's no coming back to this side of the world."