Aozaki Aoko Case File

As soon as Aoko landed with Mash, Totorot and Toneriko rushed up and gave Mash a thorough check. Only after confirming she was fine did they relax.

"I'm sorry, Mash. I shouldn't have let you go so deep…" Toneriko apologized, guilt written all over her face. "Miss Aoko told me what was down there, yet I still…"

"It's alright!" Mash quickly comforted her. "Nothing happened to me, and at least we gathered a lot of intel with this investigation, right?"

"Exactly!" Aoko chimed in. "I knew Cernunnos's corpse was here, but didn't know its state. Thanks to Mash's confirmation, I'm reassured."

"What do you mean?" Toneriko asked, puzzled. "That curse was already so strong—how is that not a big problem?"

"Of course, it's not," Aoko shook her head. "A curse of this level can't break free and reach the surface of Fairy Britain yet, and by my estimates, it'll take at least another four hundred years. By then, it'll be the end of the Lostbelt, and few fairies will survive."

Everyone's face fell—even Mash's, though she was a little better off, since she knew that in the future, Fairy Britain would still exist, even if several waves of fairies would have died.

"To resolve this… might take twenty to fifty years…" Toneriko said. "But if this is the only curse disaster, I think I can handle it with my magecraft."

"Of course you can," Aoko said patiently. "But Fairy Britain has more than just this disaster. These are effects, not causes. Once the first disaster capable of destroying the entire region appears, more will follow."

"My advice is the same," Aoko said. "I'll take away the worthy, good fairies. As long as you convert the Fantasy Tree's energy to mana before the Lostbelt is destroyed and transition to the Queen's Calendar…"

Toneriko said nothing, deep in thought. In the original timeline, after Uther's death, she gave up her savior duties and focused on preserving Britain to fulfill her dream, but still failed.

She'd had no other options—she knew all the Lostbelt fairies were enemies of pan-human history. If she wanted to save this land and those she cared about, she could only become a tyrant, using overwhelming force to suppress all troublemakers and disasters, so Fairy Britain could last forever.

But now, things were different. The magician Aoko Aozaki had given her an escape route. Even if she failed with Uther and the Round Table, and peace never came, she could take Totorot and the others and flee to Aoko's world. Toneriko's obsession with Fairy Britain wasn't as deep now.

"I understand," Toneriko replied seriously. "But… I'll try one last time. If Uther fails, I'll convert the Fairy Calendar to the Queen's Calendar."

By now, Mash had pretty much guessed Toneriko's identity. She'd wondered why this person looked so much like Artoria Caster, but after hearing the conversations, she was sure this Savior was none other than the future tyrant and Winter Queen, Morgan le Fay.

Mash didn't hate her. She sympathized deeply and wanted to help her. That was why Mash was willing to risk descending into the pit—she hoped this embattled savior could find a happy ending.

After discussion, and aided by Aoko's teleportation, everyone returned to Salisbury Cathedral. The same effect could be achieved by water-mirror magecraft, but the cost and disturbance would be much greater, so Aoko did the teleporting.

Before heading out to the great pit and Tintagel, Aoko had arranged for Artoria to guard the temporary base at Salisbury with Grimr, ensuring rear security. She'd secretly told Artoria that Salisbury's leader Aurora was a hidden threat, and if Aurora did anything strange, Artoria would notify her with a pre-enchanted item. Aoko would return immediately to deal with it.

Aurora, as a fairy, had no malice subjectively, but her existence directly caused several major tragedies in the Fairy Lostbelt. Her character and motives were the best example of fairy chaos—willing to abandon anything for her own goals, whether morals or feelings.

Aoko hadn't killed her yet because Aurora still had a crucial task in Aoko's plan: to get rid of Uther, the burden.

Aoko herself wasn't interested in Uther, either in pan-human history or the Fairy Lostbelt, especially after learning Uther and Toneriko might have gotten involved romantically. She definitely wouldn't let him on the castle.

Still, she wouldn't harm him directly. Whether he survived the coronation poisoning plot would be up to his fate. The history of the Fairy Lostbelt was already changed by Aoko's intervention, so whether that could avert Uther's tragedy was up to him.

After discussion, including with Grimr, the fairies wanted to visit Aoko's special realm to see if this pseudo-Reality Marble could sever their link to the Lostbelt and save them from erasure.

Aoko agreed readily. She took out the Principle Blood Seal sphere, let it float in her hand, and after a flash of white light, everyone found themselves inside.

"…This place is incredible," Grimr marveled at the nearly empty city, the surrounding forests, rivers, and mountains. "My connection with the old man is cut off for now."

Totorot closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Rich mana flowed into her, as strong as in Fairy Britain, making her feel completely at ease—as if the shackles on her body had fallen away.

"Welcome to my world," Aoko spread her arms and smiled. "There's a lot more to show. We have plenty of time; for now, just relax and know I wasn't lying."