Consciousness and Flesh

After Touko's rejuvenation, Alice Kuonji's magecraft measurements put her physical age at around eight.

Although Touko's experience and knowledge remained at the level of an adult magus, her body had shrunk into that of a child, so everything from her hormone secretion to the information she received through her senses had become completely different.

Aoko Aozaki still remembered what kind of personality that little brat who had tried to prank her with magecraft as a child had possessed.

But cramming an adult consciousness into a child's body meant that the current Touko and the Touko of those days were also different beings.

Human individuals in the Type-Moon universe possessed souls, but the human soul was absolutely not the sole factor determining a person's consciousness and personality.

A rather interesting example was the beings in this world known as Servants. During the Holy Grail War, what Masters summoned were not the Heroic Spirit's true body located upon the Record of the Boundary, but merely one aspect of that Heroic Spirit.

Different aspects of the same Servant could very well be versions of them from different periods and ages, and naturally their personalities would differ greatly as well. Were those differences in personality truly caused only by different life experiences?

Aoko believed the answer was obviously no. According to a paper she had read in her previous life, "Self-Consciousness and Cardiac Activity" (Babo-Rebelo, M., Richter, C. G., & Tallon-Baudry, C. (2016)), the decisions made by human consciousness were closely linked to the state of cardiac activity.

If the state of activity of a single heart could cause subtle differences in a human's consciousness, personality, and judgment, then could someone possibly retain their original personality after the age of their entire body had changed?

Of course not. One only had to look at Touko in front of them to understand that.

Aoko believed Touko would never previously have sulked off and refused to speak to either of them just because Alice had changed her into a Western-style dress Alice herself had worn as a child. Of course, that might have had something to do with Aoko somehow producing a camera and snapping away at Touko in a frilly dress, but that was not the point.

Touko's Magic Circuits and magecraft proficiency were still intact, but because her current body was far too young, she simply could not wield the combat power she had possessed as an adult.

Aoko had also forced Touko to sign a self-geas contract stipulating that she was not allowed to activate the adult duplicate bodies she had prepared long ago, commit suicide, harm Alice or Aoko in any form, or commission anyone else to do so.

Of course, Aoko was not cruel enough to forbid Touko from creating duplicate bodies of the same age and transferring her consciousness into them. That preserved some degree of pseudo-immortality for Touko, making her the bargain-bin version of Eggman.

By the time Aoko had beaten Touko up, it was already very late. After tying her up and explaining everything, it was now nearly two in the morning.

Now an eight-year-old child, Touko was utterly incapable of resisting the overwhelming tide of sleepiness. After bickering with Aoko and Alice for a while, she could not hold on any longer. She flopped onto the sofa with a thud and immediately fell fast asleep.

"Kids really do sleep well!" Aoko remarked with a grin. Watching her antics from the side, Alice could not help but laugh as well.

"You can... put Touko in the room at the very end of the second floor," Alice said after a moment of hesitation. "It suits her as she is now."

"?" Aoko looked puzzled. "What's so special about that room?"

"That was the room I used when I was little," Alice said. "It's a little small for me now, but it's just right for Touko."

As she spoke, Alice gave the young-looking Touko a meaningful glance.

"Sounds great." Aoko picked up the sleeping Touko from the sofa and headed for the stairs. "Wait a moment. I'll take her to the room and come right back."

Aoko carried Touko upstairs and arrived at the bedroom at the far end of the second floor.

Only after opening the door did she understand why Alice had specifically recommended this room for Touko.

Because it was simply too adorable!

Every wooden piece of furniture in the room had rounded edges to keep children from getting hurt. The bed was the kind children loved, with a desk underneath and the bed above. Plush toys filled every corner of the room, and there was even a large stuffed bear on the bed!

The wardrobe was also a low model specially customized for children's height. It was clear how much preparation Alice's father had made to bring Alice back to Japan; every detail was filled with deep affection.

Just imagining Touko waking up in this room tomorrow morning made Aoko nearly burst out laughing.

Her mouth had practically twisted into a sideways S from holding back her laughter. She hurriedly used a zero-circle magic trick to clean Touko up, changed her into Alice's childhood pajamas, tucked her into bed, and pulled the covers over her.

Before leaving the room, Aoko quietly placed a magical sentry for recording inside. She had to capture Touko waking up tomorrow morning. That way, even if Touko grew up again, she could use the footage to threaten her...

After finishing all that, Aoko quietly shut the door and returned to the living room on the first floor.

This time, Aoko truly could not hold it in any longer. She threw her head back and laughed heartily. The Kuonji residence was well soundproofed anyway, so Touko upstairs could not hear a thing.

"Hahahahaha~" Aoko laughed with particular delight. "Alice, you're so mean! Such an adorable room—our little Touko is going to be overwhelmed by all that cuteness~"

For once, Alice actually covered her mouth and laughed along with Aoko. Presumably, when morning came, there would be only one unhappy person in the Kuonji residence.

"All right, Alice, you should go to bed first." Once she had laughed enough, Aoko stood and headed toward the kitchen.

"What about you?" Alice asked. "Why aren't you going to sleep too, Aoko?"

"I'm making breakfast for you and Touko," Aoko said. "I'm definitely sleeping for a full eight hours. What if you two get hungry before then?"

"...I can wait and eat when you wake up," Alice said softly.

"Thanks, but skipping breakfast isn't healthy, you know?" Aoko said. "I'll be done soon. You should get some sleep first."

Although Alice did not argue with Aoko again, she stubbornly followed her into the kitchen and watched as Aoko skillfully prepared the next day's breakfast.