Aozaki Aoko Case File [152]

Unlike Semiramis's Hanging Gardens, King Solomon's Grand Temple didn't take off by bursting through the roof of Marisbilly's underground workshop.

This temple, two-thirds the size of the Hanging Gardens, was primarily constructed from magical formulas woven by King Solomon himself. In essence, the entire temple was a manifestation of King Solomon's magic.

This meant Solomon could manipulate the great magic that formed the temple to achieve a form of movement entirely different from the Hanging Gardens. For instance, the temple could first move outside the world and then reappear near the desired location within the world, mimicking the functionality of teleportation.

And that's exactly what Solomon did. Aoko only felt her vision blur for a moment, and in that instant, she seemed to glimpse the endless starry sky above the Grand Temple.

However, the sensation lasted only for a split second. When she regained focus, the Grand Temple had already brought their group to the skies above Ryuudou Temple.

Aoko knew that the scenery she had just witnessed outside the world couldn't be the real universe. Rather, it was more likely someplace akin to the Astral Plane.

She wasn't sure if the Nasuverse even had an Astral Plane, but due to her opposition to the Necromancy School, she couldn't explore such realms via soul projection for the time being.

Her opposition to the Necromancy School was a matter that left her somewhat confused. Normally, opposing a school in the real world meant dedicating time to studying other schools, leaving no room to progress in the opposed one.

But Aoko had never been the type to lock herself in a workshop and bury her nose in books. In the past few months, she had been juggling university classes, learning arcane magic, researching magecraft, and even finding time to play guitar. She was living a carefree and vibrant life.

Yet, despite this relaxed pace of learning, Aoko still managed to continuously expand her repertoire of spells, adding new ones to her arsenal. Perhaps this was the extraordinary nature of her exceptional intelligence.

For her, the inability to learn new spells from the Necromancy School felt more like a restriction imposed by some governing system. Ever since she chose to oppose that school, she hadn't been able to find any Necromancy spells in the magic web. She wasn't sure if this was a coincidence.

If it wasn't, then Aoko figured she'd have to find a way to escape to another world in the future to gather knowledge of Necromancy spells. She wasn't sure if that would bypass the restriction, but it was an idea.

Anyway, back to the main topic.

Aoko had originally partnered with Marisbury to share some of the burden and ensure she wouldn't have to constantly worry about someone ambushing Touko while she was away. But now that she had dealt with all the enemies she needed to, that reason was no longer valid.

However, Aoko couldn't shake the premonition that someone would stir up trouble at the very end. To be safe, she decided to have Touko stay in the Grand Temple to perform a ritual. After all, Aoko believed her current level of barrier magic was no match for the King of Magecraft.

"Alright!" Aoko said, placing her hands on her hips and grinning proudly. "Let's head back to Ryuudou Temple and get some rest. Tomorrow night, we'll take down Lancer and activate the Greater Grail!"

"Of course, if Kayneth doesn't show up, I'll personally head to his workshop and deal with Lancer myself. He'd better not test my patience."

And so, the Holy Grail War entered its final day.

After the series of battles that had taken place, Fuyuki City was left in ruins, riddled with scars. Rumors of terrorists operating in Fuyuki began to spread, causing many frightened residents to temporarily flee the city, planning to return when the danger had passed.

Aoko wasn't sure if this rumor had spread naturally or if it was deliberately planted by the Church or the Mage's Association. Either way, if it reduced the potential for collateral damage to ordinary people, it was ultimately a good thing.

She figured that after the Holy Grail War ended, she wouldn't be returning to Fuyuki for a while. So, she decided to take some time during the day for one last stroll around the city.

Originally, she had planned to bring Touko along, but Touko was too nervous about her impending contact with the Third Magic and flatly refused, kicking Aoko out instead.

Left with no other choice, Aoko decided to drag Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash Kyrielight along for a trip to the shopping district.

"So this is what the shopping districts in your homeland look like, Senpai?" Mash said curiously. "It just seems a bit… empty?"

"Maybe the previous battles between Servants caused enough damage to make people leave Fuyuki temporarily," Fujimaru speculated. "But yeah, it's a lot quieter than where I'm from."

"Fujimaru, you're from Tokyo, right?" Aoko asked while enjoying a vanilla ice cream. "I think you mentioned that before."

"Ah? Yes!" Fujimaru quickly replied. "I live in... (she shared an address). Do you live in Tokyo too, Miss Aoko?"

"I'm currently studying at the University of Tokyo," Aoko said casually, "but my hometown is in Misaki Town, so I usually go back and forth between the two."

Hearing that Aoko was a university student, Fujimaru and Mash were both amazed.

"Huh? What's so surprising about that?" Aoko asked, puzzled. "Is it weird for me to attend Tokyo University?"

"No, not at all!" Mash quickly waved her hands to deny it. "It's just that, generally speaking, magi usually go to the Mage's Association to study, right?"

"I'm a Magician," Aoko said smugly. "I can study wherever I want. Those Clock Tower folks have nothing to teach me~"

The Chaldea duo stared at Aoko with admiration in their eyes, greatly satisfying her vanity.

"By the way, Fujimaru-chan, I didn't expect you to be such a rich girl," Aoko said with a mischievous grin.

"Huh? I'm just an ordinary person!" Fujimaru frantically waved her hands in denial. "There's no way I'm a rich girl!"

"'Ordinary people' don't live near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo," Aoko said, wrapping an arm around Fujimaru's neck and teasing her. "Come on, spill it—do you have some wealthy relatives or what?"

The three of them chatted about random things as they strolled along, eventually arriving at a place that felt familiar to Aoko.

Looking up, Aoko saw the sign of a restaurant she remembered. Her eyes lit up, and she turned to Mash and Fujimaru with an invitation.

"This place has pretty good spicy food," Aoko said seriously. "Let's have lunch here."

"Spicy food?" Fujimaru said. "Sure! I like spicy food~"

Although Aoko hoped to leave Mash and Fujimaru with a memorable experience, little did she know that the owner of the Koushuuensaikan Taizan – Batsu had recently hired a peculiar new kitchen assistant...