Chapter 204

Rin Tohsaka: "I see. Because it can only be activated during a full moon, the timing doesn't match up."

【Waver: "Is the one who died truly the Golden Princess?"】

【Reines: "???"】

【Waver: "To Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take it a step further, is one of the Golden Princess or the Silver Princess a doll? That is what I want to ask."】

【Reines: "A doll... but the Golden Princess we saw was definitely..."】

【Waver: "Exactly, she only resembled a human."】

【Normally, this question should have been beyond dispute, but one must not forget that the Izelma family currently has *that* person among them.】

【"Touko Aozaki. She achieved many results during her time at the Clock Tower, but two of them are particularly noteworthy."】

【"The first is that she reconstructed the declining Rune magecraft foundation, and the other is that she became an exceptional doll maker."】

【Gray: "Dolls, I recall that being a type of magecraft that imitates the human body, right?"】

【"Correct. Although it differs somewhat from Rune magecraft, the magecraft concept of imitating the human body has also declined."】

【Waver said slowly: "In other words, she successfully reconstructed these two types of magecraft in the modern era."】

【It must be said, Touko Aozaki's rank of Grand truly makes one admire her from the heart.】

Caules: "To actually reconstruct these two declining types of magecraft... I never expected that woman to be so formidable."

Diarmuid: "The legendary Rune runes of Odin—can she really reconstruct something like that?"

Gordes: "More importantly, her age. Her age."

Gordes: "That woman achieved this feat at around twenty years old."

Fiore: "This is the talent of a Grand-ranked magus."

Darnic: "..."

Sola-Ui: "Touko Aozaki... this woman's talent is truly too enviable."

Kayneth: "Hmph, though I don't want to admit it, I have no choice but to acknowledge it."

【Gray: "Then, is that automaton that attacked us also..."】

【"Generally speaking, yes, but..."】

【Reines hesitated; she truly could not understand the reason why Touko Aozaki would do such a thing.】

【After a long while, Reines changed the subject: "Are you trying to say with your previous deduction that the dead Golden Princess is a doll made by Touko Aozaki, and the real Golden Princess might still be alive?"】

【"Yes, that is correct."】

【Waver frowned: "Actually, I considered whether this matter was a carefully calculated scheme by the Izelmas, but the return versus the risk is too unbalanced. Byron shouldn't be doing something so thankless."】

This is also the point that everyone in the group chat cannot figure out right now.

All clues have indicated that the culprit of this case is definitely that old fellow Byron, but the reason—what exactly is his purpose in doing this?

Just as Waver said in the video, this is completely a thankless task.

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Could it be that he has some grudge against El-Melloi?"

Kayneth: "Impossible. El-Melloi and Izelma have absolutely no intersection."

Kayneth: "However, I don't know about the situation in the video; after all, I have been dead for nearly ten years in that timeline."

Waver: "..."

【"That's true."】

【Reines then remembered the powder she had quietly hidden away earlier and took it out to hand to Waver.】

【"Brother, could you Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take a look at this powder?"】

【"Hm? Wait a moment."】

【Waver took a magnifying glass out of his small leather bag and began to examine it carefully.】

【"Is it the ash of something?"】

【Waver stared at the powder for a good while, then suddenly reached out to pick up some and put it directly into his mouth.】

【Reines was startled: "Hey! Have you lost your mind?!"】

Rin Tohsaka: "Hey, hey! You're just putting whatever that is into your mouth!"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Quiet, Rin. Since Waver is doing this, he must be certain that the thing is not poisonous."

Illya: "But it still looks so disgusting."

【"Ptoo!"】

【Waver did not swallow the powder, but instead tasted it and spat it out, whispering softly: "Now I have a lead."】

【Reines: "Hey, Onii-chan?"】

【Waver: "Don't bother me, let me think for a while."】

Rin Tohsaka: "Good thing he didn't swallow it, or I would have vomited."

Caules: "But he knew what it was just by tasting it?"

Kiritsugu Emiya: "Is it some kind of medicinal herb? It's really hard to judge just by looking."

Illya: "I hate it when people keep others in suspense. Can't he just say it directly?"

Feng Xi: "Isn't that how mystery stories always go?"

【On the other Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side, inside the workshop on the top floor of the Moon Tower.】

【Byron held his Meerschaum pipe and smoked in silence.】

【Waver's remarks from earlier, which had pointed directly to the core of his family's magecraft the moment they met, still left him feeling lingering fear.】

【"Damn it..."】

【Byron gritted his teeth; he was afraid, afraid that his family's hundreds of years of accumulation would be trampled upon.】

【Why was he so proud before? Because looking at history alone, the Izelma family was clearly older than the original El-Melloi main family, the Archibalds, yet because their magecraft had long been stagnant, they could only be reduced to an affiliated family.】

【However, in his generation, their family's efforts finally saw a glimmer of hope. The family's glory, the Golden Princess and the Silver, were finally approaching that ideal.】

【But they were still just a little short.】

【Even so, this was a great opportunity for his Izelma family to turn things around.】

【This was why he dared to provoke a Lord so much, even if it was a fallen Lord.】

【But that brat who appeared from nowhere and luckily became a Lord had made him lose all face in public.】

【He had struggled bitterly until now, using every means he could think of, even bowing his head to that yellow-haired girl who appeared from the Far East and usurped the Grand rank, trying to finish the remaining few steps.】

【Clearly, even Lord Barthomeloi had praised this debut banquet, and even that yellow-haired girl could not ignore him now, but...】

Kayneth: "Heh, so that's how it is."

Byron Balleyroy Izelma, just you wait. He will teach this guy properly how El-Melloi's current status was achieved.

Sola-Ui: "Really, how should I put it—an inexplicable sense of confidence."

Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia: "Exactly. I was wondering where this guy got his confidence from; turns out it was all hollow."

Rin Tohsaka: "Saying one thing to your face and another behind your back—disgusting."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Hmph, truly senseless."

One can see from the other party's words that this guy looks down on Eastern magi to the extreme; even a Grand like Touko Aozaki is a usurper in his eyes.

I really don't know where his arrogance comes from. Besides that long history, what else does the Izelma family have that is worth showing off?

Darnic: "I am actually quite curious about what the goal is that Izelma wants to achieve, to be able to make him possess this inexplicable confidence."

The Great Duke: "Hmph, 'confidence' is an understatement; he is simply wild beyond measure."

【"Lord Byron."】

【At this moment, a voice awakened Byron, who was harboring anger and resentment.】

【It was the maid Regina, who brought Mio and Islo into the workshop.】

【"Oh, you've come."】

【Byron immediately put on a hypocritical mask and said slowly: "As long as the Silver Princess is here, losing the Golden Princess is not an absolute failure."】

【Although the case caused a huge shock, it was still salvageable.】

【The Golden Princess and Silver Princess created with Izelma blood also have the significance of being backups for each other; even if one Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side is lost, it does not mean decline.】

【Byron: "However, what about your dress?"】

【Islo: "My dress is perfect."】

【Byron: "Then what about your medicine?"】

【"I—it hurts!!!"】

【Mio, for some reason, panicked and bit her tongue.】