Resolve

For the moment, Aoko Aozaki set aside the matter of magical pets. She was now a fully independent magus. Although she still studied various aspects of magecraft under Alice Kuonji, it was more like an exchange between magecraft scholars specializing in different fields. This version of "Aoko" already had uniquely insightful views in quite a few areas of magecraft, and she was happy to share those insights and research results with Alice, making their exchanges all the more productive.

Naturally, Aoko had also tried to learn Alice's unique "fairy-tale magecraft" system, but she hit a wall with the most basic Starling familiar spell from "The Song of Sixpence." Fairy-tale magecraft, a system founded upon a special foundation, was simply impossible for anyone other than Yuminia's descendants, who possessed remnants of the First Magic, to learn. This inheritance relied upon a unique witch bloodline, and Aoko confirmed as much through repeated attempts.

So this was what they meant by "members-only magecraft," Aoko thought with a sigh. Perhaps she would have a chance to visit the continental nations to the west someday and see whether she could learn ideational key patterns, but that was something entirely different from existing magecraft systems. The qualifications to use it were granted by the divine council known as the Court of Mountains, and in some ways, they might be even stricter than a witch's bloodline inheritance.

Seriously, why was all the magecraft in this world so exclusionary? Annoying.

That said, Aoko's Weave arcana was even more exclusionary. Only she, who possessed a fragment of the Weave, could use Weave arcana in this world. She could not even teach this otherworldly knowledge to anyone else.

It was a completely alien art, and Aoko knew that perfectly well.

Still, even though she had inherited the Aozaki family's Fifth Magic crest and possessed the cheat-like advantage of a Weave fragment, she was not entirely confident she could overcome Touko's coming challenge.

After all, the Golden Werewolf Beo was a Phantasmal Species that had completed the materialization of its soul. Calling it a werewolf was not even quite accurate, since Beo's essence was closer to that of a fairy or a True Vampire. Aoko believed Beo's combat ability far surpassed Yu Mei-ren's, who could repeatedly self-destruct and revive, given its extraordinarily high defenses and ability to freely alter its own form.

But defeating it was not impossible for Aoko. Beo was a remarkably immature brat mentally speaking. In the original timeline, Soujuurou's desperate strike had merely caused it pain, yet that alone had frightened it away. It would be far easier for Aoko to accomplish the same.

There was not much time left before Touko launched her attack... Aoko had no intention of getting wrecked, only to have that woman Touko riding over her for the rest of her life as nothing more than a lousy little sister who could never turn things around. So lately, she needed to take some risks and gain enough power to defeat the Golden Wolf head-on.

And the best route available to her in the short term was the sealed passage to the Root, located deep within her grandfather's workshop.

Although Aoko had inherited the Fifth Magic, she had not fully mastered all of its effects in the past two years. She had confidence in her talent, but time waited for no one. She absolutely did not want to awaken it through something as brutal as sacrificing a backup lover and her best friend, like in the original timeline!

Therefore, she had to persuade her grandfather's soul to lift the seal on the passage, travel through it to the Root, and obtain full access to the Fifth Magic. After the old magus acquired the Fifth Magic back then, he had sealed it away. Aoko guessed it was not because he expected later generations to make research progress and reopen it. Rather, the old man had been endlessly harassed by the hounds sent by the Counter Force, so he sealed that road off.

Aoko had done some research and calculations based on memories of her "previous life." If she insisted on entering the Root, the greatest obstacle would likely be Cath Palug, the "Primate Murderer" sent by Alaya. This oversized Fou was not absurdly strong in combat, but it possessed the absolute right to kill primates, as well as the Principle of Comparison, which had yet to fully mature in this timeline.

Aoko had once discussed Primate Murderers with her grandfather, but his answer had been, "It's troublesome to deal with, but even the First Ancestor can't kill me."

Aoko now reserved judgment on that statement. She did not know whether Wen Bingyongli splitting the old man in two counted as killing him, but judging by how her grandfather's soul had walked away as though nothing had happened, it probably was not a major issue. Or perhaps the old man had merely been putting on a brave face to save face. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Touko in the original timeline had been able to trap him in the workshop with magecraft, leaving him unable to get out.

To deal with this Big White dog, Aoko prepared a large number of scrolls containing spells like "Monster Stun," "Hold Monster," "Misty Step," and "Dimension Door." Since the Primate Murderer was one hundred percent native to Earth, spells like Banishment and Dismissal would not work on it. Aoko could only clash with it head-on and try to use Weave arcana to hold it back before entering the Root. Once she fully mastered the Fifth Magic, neither Alaya nor the Primate Murderer would be able to do anything to her. Her grandfather's carefree life over so many years proved as much.

Having made all the necessary preparations and brought herself to peak condition, Aoko Aozaki set out for her grandfather's workshop.

Before leaving, she told Alice that if she did not return from this trip, Alice was to transfer all of her property in the Western-style house she had shared with Touko to Touko's name according to her will.

Also, even if she succeeded, she would not be able to attend school for some time. She hoped Alice would help her request leave from school. There were also boxed lunches Aoko had prepared for Alice in the refrigerator; Alice only needed to heat them before eating.

Alice silently watched Aoko's departing figure, and a long-forgotten ripple stirred within her heart. Perhaps she was worried because her housemate was about to risk her life, or perhaps she regretted the possible loss of a long-term meal ticket.

Some clever readers might ask: why not bring Alice Kuonji along to brave the cave leading to the Root? Aoko would answer that there were two main reasons.

First, while Alice Kuonji's fairy-tale magecraft was exceptionally effective against magi, it was not particularly useful against the Primate Murderer or the Golden Beast with its materialized soul. Cath Palug could very likely take her out in one wave.

Second, Alice Kuonji herself had far too deep a connection with the First Magic. Bringing her to the place where the Fifth Magic was obtained could very likely entail unpredictable risks.

So, to keep her adorable housemate from being harmed, Aoko decided to face this challenge alone.

Two years later, Aoko once again arrived at her grandfather's workshop. Nothing about the building had changed since she had last seen it. Even the grass before the door did not appear to have grown much.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door to enter her grandfather's workshop. There was no sound on any of the three floors aboveground, nor was there anyone in sight. Aoko headed straight for the basement entrance leading to her grandfather's true experimental workshop, used the Aozaki family's magecraft crest to lift the restriction at the entrance, and walked in without hesitation.

Pushing open the door to her grandfather's basement study, Aoko saw the chair where he had once sat. An open book lay on the desk beside it, though it was not the copy of De Profundis from several years ago. Someone as inhuman as her grandfather probably did not read the same book all the time, did he?

Aoko paused only briefly before heading deeper inside. That was the "true workshop" which her grandfather had forbidden both sisters from entering since childhood. She guessed that "the entrance leading there" was inside that room. Having lost his body, her grandfather had remained there all this time, preventing anyone from entering.

But now she had broken that restriction. Upon arriving at the old magus's private room, she saw her grandfather's translucent spirit body.

"Do you wish to enter that place?" her grandfather asked. "Are you certain you are stronger than I am?"

"Yes," Aoko said confidently. "I'm stronger than you, Grandfather, so I'm going to enter the path to the Root."

"I see." Her grandfather's gaze lowered slightly, and Aoko could sense that he was thinking. "Not a single person who reached that place has ever returned alive, you know?"

"Why?" Aoko froze. "Didn't you obtain the Fifth Magic only after reaching the Root?"

"Yes," her grandfather replied. "The First and the Fifth were both results of reaching it. But what is called reaching it is actually a consolation prize obtained by stopping and turning back before the true point..."

"So..." Aoko's eyes widened. "Grandfather, you only approached it and took one look into the Root?"

"Yes." Her grandfather sighed. "Whether it is success or failure, once you touch that, you can never return to this world again."