Touko Aozaki accepted the deal.
She had confirmed that my eyes belonged to a species of Mystic Eyes, but to the Executors of the Holy Church, a puppet master who had achieved a feat bordering on True Magic was a far more significant prize than an unidentified pair of eyes.
"You certainly did a good job fooling us, didn't you?"
"…Indeed."
"Haha…"
Naturally, I had to explain the circumstances to Aoko-nee and Alice-san.
I confessed that I had possessed these Mystic Eyes from the beginning and that I had been surreptitiously reading the books on magecraft in Alice-san's mansion.
"More importantly, a 'connector to the Root'..."
"…Is that really such a big deal?"
When Soujuurou-san asked with genuine curiosity, Alice-san let out a sigh and began to explain.
"The Root is essentially the destination that all magi pursue as their lifelong desire. At the Clock Tower, they are willing to capture and preserve in formaldehyde anything that even hints at the possibility of reaching the Root."
"Then if you were to report me, Alice-san, I would end up in such a state. Do you intend to report me?"
"…Are you insane?"
Aoko-nee looked at me as if I were absurd, and Alice-san shook her head in disapproval.
"As a magus, the correct course of action would be to seize you for research… but I have no particular desire to do so. Firstly, I owe you my life, and secondly, I don't think Aoko would stand idly by."
"You're damn right!"
"…Regardless, I am concerned about what comes next. We will need to make an appropriate report to the Holy Church as well."
"Don't worry about that. A simple disguise using the 'Mirror of Siesta' will suffice. However… *Sigh*..."
Alice-san took a long breath before continuing.
"You asked me to teach you magecraft from the very beginning, didn't you?"
"I did."
"…Did you happen to know things would turn out like this?"
"I swear, I had no idea."
It wasn't a lie.
I had no way of knowing that Touko Aozaki would suddenly show up, or that a werewolf cub harboring 3,000 years of Mystery would pounce on us.
Following that, Alice-san asked several more questions, roughly checking my knowledge of the moonlit world, and finally reached a conclusion on how we should proceed.
"As the owner of this land, I cannot move freely, but Aoko will have to visit the Clock Tower regardless. Since it seems you intend to involve yourself properly with the world of magecraft, what will you do?"
"Excuse me?"
"If you wish, I can introduce you to the Department of Yumina, which I am affiliated with. Or, Aoko can act as your guardian in the world of magecraft. Which do you prefer?"
…An unexpected jackpot had just landed in my lap.
* * * * *
Having a Magician as one's backer carries power beyond imagination.
Case in point: Rin Tohsaka, who was facing a permanent Sealing Designation for smashing the Holy Grail, was exonerated with a single word of guarantee from the Jewel Old Man.
I immediately accepted Aoko-nee's proposal, and matters progressed with remarkable speed.
Unlike my own crude attempts to awaken my Magic Circuits, Alice-san conducted a proper, gradual ritual to rouse them and performed a test for my attributes and aptitudes.
"I won't perform an Origin Awakening. Awakening an Origin can lead to an obsession with that concept in many ways."
In conclusion, the number of my Magic Circuits was slightly over forty. Furthermore, because they were linked to the optic nerves of the Rinnegan, she noted that the number could flexibly increase.
The quality was also quite high, and my magical attribute was the 'Average One'—possession of all five great elements. …Was this perhaps also an attribute of the Rinnegan?
Aoko-nee sent a formal missive to the Clock Tower declaring her full succession of the Fifth Magic. After some discussion, the two women decided not to erase Soujuurou-san's memories. Sister Yuika and Ritsuka-nee lamented that I had become fully entangled in magecraft, but they seemed relieved when they heard Aoko-nee would be my guardian.
"I believe I can repair Flat Snark to some extent."
"Thank you… Honestly, the materials required are so rare I thought repair was impossible."
"Since it's not the main puppet body, Pain, the repairs will take some time, but it's definitely doable."
Before Touko Aozaki's departure, Lugh Beowulf had somehow reconstructed his physical form with magical energy. However, after the rare trauma of having his soul literally yanked out, his spirit seemed to have broken. He did not follow Touko and instead remained in Misaki City.
I heard that he often visits the Holy Church in the form of a golden retriever to beg for food…
"Not my problem."
Soujuurou-san began living at the Kuonji Mansion with Alice-san (though it seemed more like he was treated as a sort of manservant), and Aoko-nee, having officially matured as a Magician, started living on her own.
My daily life… to be honest, was more of the same.
Since the power I awakened was the Six Paths of Reincarnation and I was now categorized within magecraft, I felt quite reluctant to visit the church. As a result, the time I spent with Sister Yuika gradually decreased. To compensate, I began visiting the Kuonji Mansion once a week to receive lectures on magecraft and simultaneously repair her Mystic Codes—the Ploy Kickshaws.
"An Average One is a rare magical attribute. However, your attribute and my Fairy Tale Magecraft are… not very compatible."
"Is that so?"
"In the first place, Fairy Tale Magecraft is most suited to the Imaginary Number attribute. That aptitude is extremely rare."
'Well, actually, no. I know someone. A person named Sakura, who ranks in the top three most pitiable Fate heroines.'
"Besides… you're a student. Is it really okay for you to wander around like this?"
"It doesn't really matter. My parents' philosophy is that as long as I'm healthy and safe, I'm free to do whatever I want. Besides, my grades are always a perfect one hundred."
"I suppose so. It would be a strange sight for someone who is technically a connector to the Root to get scolded at school."
Kuonji-san smiled while eating a scone baked by Soujuurou-san, and I nodded in agreement. Just then, Soujuurou-san sat on the sofa and spoke.
"By the way, when do you plan on going to England?"
"England… well, I still have things left to do here, so I'm not thinking of it immediately."
As soon as the news broke that Aoko-nee had completed her True Magic, a reply arrived from the Clock Tower.
They requested her immediate visit to the Clock Tower for the 'verification' and confirmation of the Magic. They also stated that if the Magic was verified, she would be granted a title of the Primary Colors.
"I want to teach you everything I can before I send you off."
"There are many other preparations too. Alice-san's Diddle Diddle and Flat Snark aren't fully repaired yet, and a trip to England would need to coincide with a school break."
Aoko-nee, Alice-san, and I planned to depart around August, in the middle of summer vacation.
By then, the repairs on the Mystic Codes, including Flat Snark, would be finished, and I expected the other schedules to align perfectly.
"It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Are you kidding me?"
Why on earth is the Jewel Old Man standing right in front of me?