บท 15: [13]

What exactly is the so-called Root?

According to Magus, the Root is the origin of all things, the so-called First Cause. If you were to ask Touko Aozaki, she'd say the Root is the Akashic Records she seeks. For Aoko, however, the Root is the ultimate knowledge. No matter what you wish to know, as long as you find the question's source within the Root, you can immediately derive the "effect" of the answer from that "cause." It is essentially the world's most powerful encyclopedia, containing everything—and yet, nothing.

Aoko felt her "self" dissolving. In this ultimate void, she couldn't feel anything, yet it was as if she knew everything. Her pain vanished, as did her wounds; her shattered body now hovered between existence and non-existence. Aoko desperately wanted to fall into a deep sleep, but a voice within her warned her not to.

If an ordinary magus reached the Root, they would be overwhelmed by its infinite causes, leading their self to be assimilated and disappear in an instant. Yet Aoko, as a "human," possessed some element that did not originate from the Swirl of the Root. It was this unknown element that preserved her sense of self, allowing her to survive within the Root.

As long as she continued to "live," she would acquire more "rewards" from the Swirl of the Root... But what was it that Aoko wanted again? She couldn't quite remember. In her confusion, she glimpsed the magic crest of the Aozaki family and vaguely recalled the Fifth Magic her grandfather had cast on that door... Magic... Ah, that's right. She was a magician.

Aoko immediately snapped back to her senses, and in the Swirl of the Root, she regained physical form. She reached for her wounds but found only smooth skin—the injuries had completely disappeared as if they'd never existed. She tried to see something, but it was as though she were blind—unable to see anything, yet seeing everything at once.

"I need clothes," Aoko thought.

In the next instant, her previous clothes were back on her body.

Aoko quickly understood the mechanism of this place. She began to fully activate her magic crest, demanding all the knowledge about the Fifth Magic from the Root. Perhaps because she had shaken off the disorienting chaos here, Aoko suddenly felt a powerful rejection, as if the Swirl of the Root did not allow such a strong sense of self within it.

But Aoko had already begun absorbing the mysteries of the Fifth Magic. She was determined to master this complete magic—surpassing even her grandfather's—before she was expelled from the Root! As her "inquiries" intensified, the magic crest, originally covering only her right arm, spread to her left arm as well. The crest on her right arm grew denser, with glowing patterns that became more intricate and bizarre.

Excruciating pain surged through Aoko's arms as the crest etched into her nerves, but she ignored it. All she wanted to do now was laugh, and so she did. The crest of the Fifth Magic spread from her arms across her back, but just as the markings connected, Aoko was forcefully ejected.

...

"Ouch!"

Aoko landed on her butt. She rubbed where the Primate Murderer had broken her spine, only to find it completely healed. Her other wounds had also vanished, as if she had never been injured. She stood up, dusting herself off, and looked around. She was back in the cave, but the foul dog that had gravely injured her was nowhere to be seen.

She reached for her waist—her spell component pouch was still there, and somehow, all the components had been mysteriously replenished. Her spellbook was also intact. Remembering something, she flipped through it to check the scroll pages she had used. The pages had been restored, but the spells themselves were gone.

Aoko understood something. She closed her eyes and focused inward. Her body was now in perfect health—better even than before she had entered the cave. She let out a sigh of relief as she sensed the Woven Fragment was still present.

As she lowered her head, her hair fell forward, and she grabbed a lock of it. Her hair had turned a fiery red. Why? Was this some side effect of the Fifth Magic? She recalled that in her "previous life," in the original timeline, her hair had also turned red after activating the Fifth Magic. But now, it remained red in her normal state. Perhaps it was a sign she had fully mastered the Magic?

These were trivial matters, Aoko thought confidently. She looked back, but the entrance to the Root had vanished, replaced by the dead end of an ordinary cave.

Grandfather probably won't blame me, right?

Aoko thought guiltily.

Making the entrance to the Root disappear—surely every magus in the world would want to kill her for that? But none of that mattered. There were probably fewer than five magus in the world who could pose a threat to her now.

With a spring in her step, Aoko walked toward the cave exit, unaware that with every step she took, the cave behind her was disappearing bit by bit. By the time Aoko reached her grandfather's underground workshop, the cave had completely vanished when she looked back.

It was probably something like a glitch in the world, Aoko sighed.

Now that her grandfather was gone and the cave to the Root had disappeared, did that make her a prodigal? But she had obtained the complete Fifth Magic and even turned it into a fully-formed magic crest. Surely that would bring honor to the family?

With this thought, the newly reborn Fifth Magician, Aoko Aozaki, no longer felt guilty. She hummed a song that hadn't been released in this era yet as she cleaned up her grandfather's magical workshop.

Now that grandfather was gone, it would be a shame to leave this inheritance in a dark basement.

Without the slightest guilt, Aoko packed away the remaining books and magical tools from her grandfather's workshop, planning to dig a basement in her and Touko's villa to store everything...

Huh?

Aoko frowned in thought. Wasn't something wrong...?

Well, never mind. No need to overthink it now. Happily, Aoko continued sorting her grandfather's magical inheritance, organizing everything into neat piles in the center of the room, waiting for the right time to call a vehicle to transport it all.

--- Scene Cut ---

"Hey, Touko," a cute little 'boy' with golden hair walking beside Touko asked, "Is your sister really strong?"

"She's inherited the crest of the Fifth Magic," Touko replied as they walked, "and she also has some peculiar magecraft of her own. Of course, she's strong."

"Will we win?" the golden-haired boy asked.

"Touko, will you win?"

"We will."

Touko's answer was firm, and absolute, as if the matter were already settled. A confident smile appeared on her graceful face as she looked ahead, as though she could already see her younger sister, who had just inherited the magic crest, being defeated by her and Lugh Beowulf.