Aozaki Aoko Case File

Credits: daxterdaxter

The Second Day of the Holy Grail War: Late Afternoon

All Masters had received a notification from the overseer, the Fuyuki Church. They were required to attend a meeting at the church at 8:00 PM that evening.

After some discussion, Aoko and Touko decided to personally attend the meeting. With Ryuunosuke Uryuu already dealt with in advance, Aoko wanted to see what tricks the church's overseer might still have up his sleeve.

Marisbury Animusphere, deeming himself an ordinary magus, decided not to take the risk of attending in person. Instead, he sent a familiar to handle the matter on his behalf.

The Fuyuki Church was located in the southeastern part of the city, near the edge of a forest in the suburbs. Aoko departed from Ryuudou Temple on the westernmost side of the city. She used a teleportation spell to bypass most of the urban area, arriving in the skies above the suburbs before descending slowly via flight magic.

Upon her arrival near the church, Aoko immediately sensed at least four or five familiars monitoring her. She didn't pay much attention to them. After all, she was intentionally coming alone to see if she could bait anyone into making a move, potentially eliminating one or two competitors in the process.

However, even as she landed and entered through the church's main gate, no one dared to attack her. It seemed that her combination of teleportation and flight magic was too intimidating for the gathered magi.

Without hesitation, Aoko extended her hands and pushed open the church doors. Inside the chapel, there was only an elderly priest present. Apart from several silent, oddly shaped familiars lurking in the corners, the place was empty.

"Miss Blue, gracing us with your presence is truly an honor," the elderly priest greeted her with a slight bow. "Please wait a moment. Once all the Masters have arrived, I will begin explaining the reason for this summons."

Aoko scrutinized the priest. His refined demeanor and spirited presence left an impression. As the representative of the Holy Church in Fuyuki, Risei Kotomine was undoubtedly competent. He managed the church's affairs effectively and maintained a close relationship with the Tohsaka family, the overseers of Fuyuki's leylines. He was adept at navigating such complex relationships.

Aoko didn't bother exchanging pleasantries with him. Instead, she chose a long bench she liked, sat down, and casually crossed her legs, her black tights accentuating her elegant posture.

Risei Kotomine remained facing the central crucifix of the chapel, silently praying. Aoko, indifferent to religion, didn't care much for this display. She rarely even visited her local churches, let alone the Holy Church.

As a Magician, even knowing that deities existed in this world didn't inspire any particular reverence in her. Whether divine beings were grand or insignificant, her attitude remained the same.

About ten minutes later, the church doors were pushed open once more.

The first to enter was a burly man with bright red hair. His peculiar modern attire and boisterous demeanor made him stand out. Following behind him, timidly hiding, was Waver Velvet. The young magus peeked out cautiously from behind the immense figure of the red-haired man. When Waver noticed Aoko glancing at him, he immediately ducked back in fear.

"Oh? Isn't this the so-called Magician?" the red-haired man—Iskandar, the King of Conquerors—remarked boldly. He grabbed Waver and pulled him out from behind. "Quite the daring one, coming here alone without even bringing your Servant."

"I don't have the patience to explain the difference between magicians and magi to you," Aoko sighed. "By your logic, doesn't that make your ally, Lord El-Melloi, a coward for not attending in person?"

"That's not how it is," Iskandar replied, stroking his stubbly chin. "My Master's teacher is a proud man. He likely stayed behind to protect his base from potential attacks."

"Hmm, that's indeed a possibility," Aoko said with faint smile. "Just look at the people who only sent familiars—they're even worse."

This remark included Marisbury Animusphere, but as a pragmatic man, he didn't take offense. Aoko's real targets were Kiritsugu Emiya and the Master of Berserker.

Speaking of Berserker, Aoko initially suspected Matou Kariya to be his Master. However, considering that the Matou family had already been obliterated by Tokiomi Tohsaka, it was likely that Zouken Matou himself had taken the field. Unfortunately, Aoko didn't have enough evidence yet to confirm this suspicion.

"Now that everyone has arrived, as the overseer of this Holy Grail War, I will explain why I summoned all of you here," Risei Kotomine said, turning to face the gathered Masters.

The number of attendees was higher than expected, a fact that Risei noted with some irony. Among the Masters present, only two had come in person.

One was the powerful and infamous magician, Miss Blue. The other was a young, inexperienced magus who had brought his Servant along—likely a student of the Clock Tower's Department of Mineralogy. Their reasons for attending in person were the opposite.

"It seems that, aside from the magician and the apprentice of a Lord, no one here values etiquette," Risei said. Though his words were cutting, his tone remained calm. "Very well. Allow me to get straight to the point."

"In this Holy Grail War, which is meant to be a pursuit of one's deepest wishes, a significant crisis has arisen," Risei said gravely.

"A Master, unwilling to follow the rules, nearly caused a massive breach of secrecy," he continued. "This is something neither the Holy Church nor the Mage's Association can tolerate. The Holy Grail War must adhere to the principle of secrecy. Yet this Master flagrantly abused the power granted by the Grail, allowing their Servant to violate this principle."

"Berserker's Master permitted their Servant to hijack and destroy a U.S. military aircraft stationed in Japan. This irresponsible act greatly increased the likelihood of the Holy Grail War being exposed to the mundane world. The local church had to expend a huge amount of resources to cover up this incident."

"This Master and their Servant are not just enemies of everyone here. They are a threat to the Holy Church, the Mage's Association, and the integrity of the Holy Grail War itself."

As he spoke, Risei rolled up his sleeve, revealing his muscular forearm. It was covered in intricate red Command Seals—an unmistakable resource vital to all Masters.

"These are the Command Seals recovered from previous Holy Grail Wars. As the overseer, I hold the authority to redistribute them as I see fit. I trust you all understand their value."

Aoko casually rested her arm on the bench's backrest, intentionally revealing her own Command Seals. The design, resembling the Eye of Horus with its three strokes, was displayed clearly. What others didn't know was that Aoko and Touko had transferred one real Command Seal to Aoko's arm while creating two fake ones to complete the design.

"I hereby issue a decree as the overseer," Risei declared. "All Masters are to cease hostilities and focus solely on eliminating Berserker and capturing—or killing—his Master."

"Anyone who accomplishes this task alone will receive an additional Command Seal. If the task is completed through cooperation, each participant will be awarded one Command Seal."

"The Holy Grail War will resume only after Berserker and his Master have been dealt with."