Aozaki Aoko Case File

Aoko opened the cylinder in front of Touko and poured out its contents—three documents.

One of them was handwritten by Barthomeloi Lorelei herself, informing Aoko of the voting results for the Grand Council, as well as the granting of the title Blue Magician.

The second document was a magically-bound certificate granting the Blue title, issued in the name of the London Mage's Association.

The third document was from the Sealing Designation Enforcement Division, notifying Touko Aozaki that her sealing designation had been completely revoked.

"These guys aren't too inefficient, after all," Aoko said as she handed the documents to Touko for review.

"Though it doesn't look like there's any material compensation—just a fancy but meaningless title."

"For the Mage's Association, that's already quite generous," Touko remarked sarcastically.

"The only reason they caved this time is because of your status as a Magician and your destructive capabilities. Otherwise, they'd never have lifted my sealing designation."

"Well, at least there's a result," Aoko said, casually stuffing the documents back into the cylinder and tossing them into her imaginary pocket.

"Now, let's get moving to our next stop. I'll be relying on you to guide me around Europe."

"You better make sure I stay protected," Touko said, scrutinizing Aoko.

"Last time, just dealing with you made me offend plenty of people…"

...

According to longstanding records in the world of Magecraft, the First Magic is called the "First" because it forms (or created) the foundation of mysteries in the observable world. By rejecting the concept of nothingness, it created and substantiated the abstract element of Ether, enabling magi to continue their magecraft after the Age of Gods ended.

In truth, however, the oldest Magic is not the First Magic but the Third Magic, which allows for the materialization of the soul.

For unknown reasons, the Magician of the Third Magic left this world around the turn of the Common Era. As a result, the Third Magic was lost (it is speculated that the Magician may have used the Third Magic to reach the Root).

The Magician's disciples remained in their master's workshop, attempting to follow in their footsteps. But what makes a Magician is precisely their ability to achieve the impossible.

To replicate their master's miracle, the disciples devised an alternative approach: they would create an individual modeled after their master and have this individual reproduce the Third Magic.

The magi of the Einzbern family labored for a thousand years to create the homunculus closest to the Third Magician—Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern—and nearly achieved parity with their master's capabilities.

However, while Justeaze attained an ageless state, her body was extremely fragile and incapable of leaving the Einzbern Castle—Winter Castle—hidden in a forest in Germany.

This bittersweet outcome left the Einzbern magi dissatisfied. Rather than crediting their efforts, Justeaze's existence seemed more like an accidental creation during their flawed attempts to replicate the Magician's body and soul. Fundamentally, Justeaze's creation had little to do with their skill or effort.

Justeaze's Third Magic was a one-time, single-generation event. Even using the Third Magic to materialize a single human soul required many years, let alone achieving ascension for all humanity.

Unwilling to accept this outcome, the disciples continued their experiments, hoping to recreate the circumstances that led to Justeaze. However, limited by their talents, this goal remained unfulfilled.

Disheartened, the disciples gradually left the Einzbern workshop, abandoning the homunculi they had created in pursuit of the Third Magic.

These homunculi, however, continued their creators' dreams with mechanical determination. Long after the original magi had perished, the homunculi pressed forward, generation after generation, using Justeaze as their template to sustain the Einzbern legacy.

Eventually, 500 years after the magi abandoned Winter Castle, the homunculi devised a new plan: to turn Justeaze into a "Third Magic Wide-Area Operational Device."

The homunculi broke down Justeaze's magic circuits and transformed them into Heaven's Feel, known later as the Greater Grail.

The essence of the Greater Grail is an expanded version of Justeaze's incomplete Third Magic, designed to achieve ascension for all humanity.

However, the homunculi realized they couldn't execute this plan on their own. The complexities of the human world were beyond their capacity, and they lacked the resources to perform the Third Magic ritual.

At this time, an ambitious and still-youthful Zouken Matou, obsessed with eradicating humanity's malignancy, visited Winter Castle. He aligned with the homunculi, and together they initiated the Heaven's Feel Project.

By the late 18th century, Zouken and Justeaze were forced to flee Europe to evade the Holy Church, ultimately settling in Japan—a region beyond the Church's reach at the time.

There, they met the local magus Nagato Tohsaka, a disciple of the Second Magician, Zelretch. Through their discussions, Nagato revealed his desire to use the "hole" opened by the Heaven's Feel to reach the Root.

Their shared interests led to an alliance, marking the birth of Fuyuki's Three Founding Families.

Notably, after the Holy Grail War system was established, Zelretch himself visited Fuyuki—not to interfere but to ensure no other Magicians meddled in the ritual. He participated as a witness to this unprecedented experiment.

However, a simple deduction raises the question: besides Zelretch himself, the only other Magician capable of disrupting the ritual would have been the Fourth Magician. The identity of this "other Magician" becomes evident upon reflection.

Meanwhile, Aoko Aozaki, who now eyes the Greater Grail and Einzbern's legacy, remains unaware of this critical information...