Chapter 213

【"... ou, you cannot prove it on the spot."】

【Speechless, Byron was still putting up a desperate struggle.】

【"Since you cannot, I refuse to let you continue slandering our reputation with boring delusions."】

【"Then, may I ask you to provide testimony?"】

【Waver looked directly at Aoko Aozaki, his expression serious.】

【"Oh my, you want me to testify?"】

【Aoko Aozaki walked forward with a curious look and said, "What is this about?"】

【Waver pointed at Karina's corpse and said, "Please Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take a look at her."】

【Aoko Aozaki: "Hmm, according to what you just said, you mean she is the Golden Princess who attended the debutante ball?"】

【Waver: "Correct. The Golden Princess at that debutante ball was indeed her—the maid Karina, upon whom you performed plastic surgery, Aoko Aozaki."】

【"..."】

【The scene fell into silence once again.】

Fiore: "Oh my, another huge revelation."

Illya: "But looking at this woman, she seems to have no idea."

Emiya Kiritsugu: "Perhaps she is faking it."

Waver: "Or perhaps some kind of memory-erasing magecraft was used."

【Aoko Aozaki laughed: "Oh my, I performed plastic surgery for the Golden Princess? While that would be both an honor and a regret, I have absolutely no memory of it."】

【"My memory is indeed rather poor, but must I now suspect myself of having dementia?"】

【"Please examine her first."】

【Waver stepped back half a pace, clearing the space in front of Karina's corpse.】

【"Then I shall not stand on ceremony."】

【Aoko Aozaki crouched down and began to investigate the contours of the corpse's cheeks and behind the ears.】

【"... es, although it was the bare minimum, there are indeed traces of surgery on her face."】

【"If magecraft is used for plastic surgery, depending on the ritual, there would only be indirect surgical traces. As long as healing magecraft is prepared, even stitching wounds with thread is unnecessary, and it would be invisible in normal life."】

【A moment later, she spoke again: "Ah, I apologize for the trouble; this is undoubtedly my work."】

【A single sentence caused a stir among everyone present.】

Rin Tohsaka: "It really is true; the previous Golden Princess was a disguise."

Caules: "Truly incredible."

Gordes: "To even reconstruct the ultimate beauty and aura of the Golden Princess—as expected of a Crown-rank magus."

【Aoko Aozaki: "However, why would I forget such an important matter?"】

【"It is not that you forgot."】

【Waver said calmly: "You simply do not remember."】

【Aoko Aozaki: "Oh?"】

【"Mr. Mio."】

【Waver looked toward the apothecary Mio.】

【Mio: "Y-yes..."】

【Waver: "I heard you used a drunken-state drug at the venue earlier, right?"】

【Mio: "... -yes."】

【Waver: "In that case, you should be able to concoct a drug that prevents one from retaining memories, shouldn't you?"】

【Mio: "Uh..."】

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "A drug that makes people lose specific memories—to think such a thing exists."

Kayneth: "I have never heard of it; it must have been developed by this Mio himself."

Shishigou Kairi: "Then this apothecary Mio is truly impressive."

Empress: "Indeed, this child has quite a talent for medicine."

Kotomine Emiya Emiya Shirou: "A pity he is now a murderer."

【Aoko Aozaki: "Hmm, are you saying I unconsciously drank a drug that hinders memory?"】

【Waver: "No, I do not think you would be that careless. However, if taking such a drug was included in the terms of the commission, you would accept it depending on the situation, would you not?"】

【Aoko Aozaki: "I see. That would depend on how interesting the commission is."】

Kayneth: "To think she drank it herself—this woman really is a lunatic."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "She truly has no fear of being schemed against."

【Waver looked at Byron and said: "Why commission her for plastic surgery? Why hinder Aoko Aozaki's memory?"】

【Byron said in a deep voice: "This is not a complicated matter, because the news of the Golden Princess's death could not be leaked. For this purpose, no matter how much reward was paid, I would hope for her rebirth. For instance, even if it meant creating a counterfeit."】

【"As for what ritual was used, it is also quite clear."】

【Waver lit a cigar and said: "It is most likely this."】

【Aoko Aozaki laughed loudly: "Hahaha! Is it Cinderella? I see, so the matter was that simple?"】

【Waver: "Correct. Once understood, the matter is very simple."】

【"Byron Baljelleta Izellma, Atrum Galliasta, I mentioned it just now, but let me ask again."】

【"Regarding the cursed object you bid on at the auction, may I explain it in further detail?"】

【Byron: "Hmph, do as you please."】

【Atrum: "If it is necessary."】

【Waver: "Then I shall speak. The cursed object you fought over is related to a certain Heroic Spirit: a leaf from the Bodhi tree stained with dragon blood."】

【Although he did not mention the name, everyone immediately knew who that Heroic Spirit was.】

Gordes: "Hmph, this question was confirmed long ago."

Feng Xi: "It is merely a god's-eye view; nothing to be proud of."

【"Wait!"】

【Atrum seemed to have realized something and stood up abruptly.】

【Waver: "What is it? Is there really a problem with discussing the cursed object?"】

【Atrum: "Did you just mention Cinderella? Could it be!"】

【Waver: "Correct. After all, having been stained with dragon blood, the Bodhi leaf should not be damageable by ordinary means. A certain magus deliberately used an extraordinary method to burn the leaf, turning the Bodhi leaf into a one-time-use ash."】

【"!!!"】

【Having received confirmation, Atrum glared at Aoko Aozaki as if he were suffocating.】

【Not just him, the other involved party was also clearly startled.】

Gordes: "What does that mean?! He is saying the Bodhi leaf was destroyed!"】

Siegfried: "..."

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "To burn such a precious holy relic into ash..."

Waver: "It seems this act was carried out behind everyone else's back."】

Shishigou Kairi: "That old guy Byron, his eyes are about to pop out."】

Fiore: "After all, it was a holy relic bought at a high price and after offending the Galliasta family, and just like that, it is gone."】

Kayneth: "Aoko Aozaki, this woman is truly wasting a heavenly treasure."】

【"Clatter!"】

【Byron's cane slipped from his hand; he stared blankly with wide eyes and said in a trembling voice: "How is it possible? Miss Aozaki, even for you, such a thing..."】

【"No, I would do it."】

【Aoko Aozaki said calmly: "I see. Using a Bodhi leaf stained with dragon blood to perform the Cinderella ritual—is the compatibility not perfect?"】

【"Rather than a human becoming immortal, the legend of Siegfried focuses more on the aspect of reincarnation as an immortal hero. As for Cinderella, it is even more so; makeup and dressing up are undoubtedly magecraft."】

【"In the stage of advancing from dressing up to plastic surgery, the Bodhi leaf that had borne the reincarnation of a hero was a far too perfect cursed object."】

【"Ugh, I really want to cut open my head to find out why I don't remember this."】

Darnic: "To think this woman is still a perfectionist."】

Caules: "I don't understand at all. What kind of thinking is this? It's simply a loss that outweighs the gain."】

Fiore: "After all, it wasn't her own item, so of course she wouldn't feel the pain of using it."】

【"Why..."】

【Byron said in disbelief: "Why, Miss Aozaki!"】

【"Because you requested this item as payment, I went to get it. Why use it on my commission? This is truly too strange!"】

【"Oh, is that so? Thank you very much for providing such a valuable treasure."】

【Aoko Aozaki shrugged and said: "Although I forgot, if the Lord's deduction is correct, I know very well what I was thinking at the time."】

【"I received an interesting commission, but the standard of the result would clearly drop if I made it with the funds and materials prepared by the employer, so I used my own reward to create a work that satisfied me."】

【"Don't you think that is very reasonable?"】

【Byron: "No one asked you to do it so exquisitely! I said from the beginning that as long as it could get through that one night, it was enough!"】

【Aoko Aozaki: "Oh my, you should just accept it, because that is the kind of personality I have."】

【"..."】

【Except for the bitter-smiling Lord Baljelleta, almost everyone was speechless.】

Rin Tohsaka: "This is truly self-inflicted; the old man has finally been played."】

Waver: "It's just a pity about that Bodhi leaf, wasted just like that."】

Kayneth: "Indeed, to use it on such magecraft that won't even last a few days, Aoko Aozaki, this woman is really..."】

Emiya Kiritsugu: "The battle launched by the Galliasta family has suddenly become a farce."】