Chapter 232: Aozaki Aoko Case File [231]
On the night of Aoko's return to the Type-Moon Earth, she and her companions confirmed their primary goal for the future: to explore otherworldly realms and attempt to reverse the decline of the Type-Moon magic.
This goal seemed overly ambitious, but given the extraordinary identities of the members of her household, planning such an endeavor wasn't considered outlandish.
Recently, Artoria had also returned from Britain. According to her, modern Britain felt too unfamiliar, to the point where even the people living there no longer resembled those of her time.
However, Artoria didn't come back empty-handed. During her travels across the British Isles, she discovered a secluded village in Wales. Upon exploration, she realized it was her burial ground, and the villagers were her gravekeepers.
The villagers were overjoyed by King Arthur's return and revered Artoria, inviting her to reclaim her holy weapon, Rhongomyniad, as well as her lingering spirit that still existed in the world.
Having already been resurrected in physical form, Artoria didn't know how to respond to these people, who had remained loyal to her for over a thousand years. However, upon learning that they planned to use an innocent young girl, who shared a bloodline connection with her, as a vessel for her revival, Artoria sternly reprimanded them.
That said, Artoria wasn't an unreasonable person. She understood the loyalists' desire to resurrect their king and also realized, through the weapon Rhongomyniad, who had orchestrated this entire scheme.
At her grave, Artoria encountered a shadow left behind by her sister, Morgan. The two sisters had a long conversation.
In the end, Morgan came to terms and departed. Her true body had long since returned to the Sea of Stars, and the purpose of controlling this shadow for a thousand years was merely to resurrect her sister, Artoria.
Before leaving the village, Artoria invited the young girl who resembled her, as well as the girl's mother, to leave with her. However, the girl's mother declined the offer. She hoped that Artoria, as the king, would take her daughter, Gray, with her and help her resolve her long-standing struggles.
Due to the brainwashing and oppression of the village elder over the years, the little girl Gray was deeply fearful of her altered appearance and despaired over her destined future as King Arthur's vessel. As a result, she had suffered from a degree of psychological illness.
Now that the promised king had been resurrected, there was no longer a need for Gray, as the vessel, to sacrifice herself. Thus, Gray's mother hoped that Artoria would take Gray away from this unhealthy village.
As for herself, having lived in the village for so long, she could no longer adapt to life in the outside world. She only hoped Gray would return to visit her occasionally in the future.
Artoria didn't immediately agree to this request. Instead, she earnestly asked for Gray's own opinion, as only Gray could decide her future. This was a promise Artoria, as the Eternal King, made to her.
At first, Gray found it hard to believe that King Arthur had truly returned. However, after receiving confirmation from her Mystic Code, Add, realized that this "King Arthur" was completely different from the one she had imagined. After careful consideration, she decided to follow the king and see the outside world.
Thus, Artoria officially became Gray's adoptive mother in legal terms. However, when local government officials saw their similar appearances, they couldn't help but speculate that there was some hidden relationship between the two. Rich people truly knew how to play games, they thought.
When Artoria brought Gray back to Misaki Town, Aoko was stunned. Artoria had bought Gray numerous new clothes, and Gray looked much younger than Aoko remembered. For a moment, Aoko failed to recognize the young girl and assumed that Artoria had found a new flame in Britain and had even given birth to a daughter.
After some discussion, Aoko finally remembered that this young girl was the same Gray from her forgotten "Type-Moon Loli Rescue Plan," which made her feel a bit awkward.
Considering that Gray was somewhat introverted and might struggle to adapt to a lively environment after just arriving in a new place, Aoko arranged for Gray to stay in the house she and Touko had bought. She also asked Artoria to spend time with her, and Artoria agreed.
Of course, Gray needed to gradually adapt to the outside world and its people. Therefore, every weekend, Gray would accompany Artoria to the Kuonji residence for meals and gatherings.
Hisui and Kohaku took a liking to Gray and were eager to become her friends, which pleased both Aoko and Artoria.
...
Day by day, time passed. In 1995, Aoko finally completed her undergraduate studies in mathematics at the University of Tokyo and officially obtained her Bachelor of Science degree.
As an outstanding graduate, Aoko's advisor had already arranged for her to proceed directly to a doctoral program. After attending the graduation ceremony and receiving her diploma, Aoko returned to the lab to begin her journey toward earning a doctorate in mathematics.
During these two years, Aoko, at the invitation of the Astromancy Department, worked alongside Touko to contribute significantly to the establishment of Chaldea. At the very least, they greatly improved the design of the experimental body for the Demi-Servant project, Mash, ensuring that the result would no longer be a flawed product that could only live for a few years.
During this time, Aoko also met Professor Lev Lainur Flauros, at the Astromancy Department. At this point, Lev had not yet become the Demon Pillar who decided to destroy the world after witnessing Mash's tragic state.
However, Aoko couldn't resist her impulse and ended up beating Lev to a pulp. The reason? Lev dared to confess his love to both her and Touko separately. Touko, with her sharp intuition, realized that the two confessions were made by different personalities of Lev. But Aoko didn't care about that—she punched Lev until Marisbury and Kirschtaria intervened to stop her.
Chaldea's development still had a ways to go before it reached the stage of Spiritron Transfer. Marisbury planned to conduct the first Spiritron Transfer test two years later, in 1997.
On a related note, the resurrected King Solomon had officially taken on the identity of Romani Archaman, Chaldea's resident doctor. Unlike Solomon who wished upon the Holy Grail to reincarnate as an ordinary person, this version of Dr. Roman retained a certain level of Solomon's magical abilities. However, he only possessed one ring, the one passed down through the Animusphere family. The whereabouts of the remaining nine rings were unknown.
Beyond Chaldea, Aoko also made significant progress in her research into otherworldly dimensions. She had recently identified what appeared to be a reliable set of coordinates for another realm and was preparing to conduct an exploration in the near future.
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