An encounter under the moonlight
The Emiya Residence, which was not very popular to begin with, became even more deserted after one of its permanent residents recently left. The winter wind swirled the fallen leaves in the courtyard, and the surrounding environment and atmosphere resembled a haunted house.
Even from an overhead view, all you can see is a row of unlit rooms; every corner of the entire mansion is pitch black and deserted.
However, those who possess knowledge beyond the ordinary can see things differently.
Although the Emiya family was home to Magecraft, there was no Magecraft Workshop there until Kiko Emiya became Rin Tohsaka's apprentice. Under Rin's guidance, a simple Workshop was built in a warehouse with the densest Leyline Mana.
Magecraft's Workshop can basically be seen as a fortress, equipped with various kinds of barriers, making it the Magecraft's most secret and final "territory." Kiko Emiya, however, was often busy practicing Magecraft and conducting experiments at the Tohsaka Residence, neglecting the Workshop itself. Even so, one or two simple illusions hinted at the presence of barriers.
The thin wall separated the inside from the outside. Inside the Workshop, magically powered lamps shone, but they were not visible from the outside. At this moment, the only two members of the Emiya family sat on either side of a table, their expressions serious.
Theoretically, Shirou Emiya is also Magecraft, but this is his first time entering his own Workshop —since Jizi renovated it, the original storage space had been moved elsewhere—he had expected it to be like Witch's cottage in legends, with pumpkin lanterns and skulls decorating the walls, and a huge cauldron in the center simmering some mysterious potion. However, in reality, it was no different from an ordinary house. There was a simple four-cornered table with two old, discarded chairs next to it, and besides some common Magecraft Props, there was even a computer.
Where's the Witch's cottage we were promised!?
"Hey, are you thinking about something weird?"
"No way, hehehe."
Jizi rolled her eyes at Shirou, and she probably guessed what he was thinking. Because of Kiritsugu's pragmatic approach, Jizi's Workshop was naturally designed for convenience, so a computer that could quickly store information was a must-have, since she wasn't Rin, that mechanical idiot.
"Well, I was planning to be honest with you anyway, so I'll go first. You can ask me anything you don't understand later, okay?"
Bringing Shirou Emiya to the Magecraft Workshop was, of course, to discuss matters related to Magecraft. As for Rin Tohsaka, who was supposed to explain things to him together— Jizi couldn't help but recall the scene from just a few tens of minutes ago back at school:
When Shirou was cornered by a srvant who appeared to be an ANR and was about to be killed, an unidentified person suddenly appeared and repelled the ANR. When Rin arrived, judging from their interaction, it seemed that Rin actually knew the intruder?!
From the polite smile when dealing with social situations, to the focused seriousness when studying Magecraft, to the occasional absent-mindedness in daily life, to the unintentional arrogance when playing around, Jizi had seen all sorts of expressions from Rin. But the one that appeared on her face that day was like a girl seeing her lover, or like finding a long-lost treasure. It was a look that was neither smiling nor crying, Jizi had never seen it before.
After the Black Mist disappeared, Rin shifted her gaze to the Mask beside Jizi. Both of them sensed the magical aura emanating from the Magecraft Props, but Jizi didn't recognize it, while Rin seemed to have a clue.
After picking up the Mask and examining it repeatedly for a long time, Rin finally came to her senses and asked about Jizi's injuries. Jizi, didn't seem to mind being ignored and instead told Rin that Shirou would explain things to her, and that Rin should go about her business.
Although she looked a little embarrassed, Rin apologized and hurriedly left wearing her Mask, seemingly to return to the Tohsaka Residence to use the equipment in the Workshop for some testing. Arhr shrugged in the direction of her and reluctantly followed, but for some reason, Jizi had a feeling that he seemed to be relieved.
Rin seemed to have mentioned "Asashin" at the time. Was that someone she knew? I've never heard of Rin having that. And the pronunciation of "Asashin" always makes me think of...
"ANR, I have a new task for you."
"Alright?"
"Take away the Mask you saw back then."
"Ha?"
"They're just two humans who've practiced martial arts a little. Is it difficult?" (The novel website doesn't skip words.)
"... No, there's no... me anymore."
"Hehehe, Assassin, it's not just you who's reappearing, it's something to look forward to, hehehehe."
"... So, in order to seize this Cauldron of All-Purpose, Magecraft and the summoned Seraphim must fight each other—that being said, neither Rin nor I actually have any particular wishes that we want to fulfill. Rather than fighting for the Holy Grail, she seems to want to avenge the Tohsaka Family's humiliation in the last war, and I'm just helping her."
"But..." Shirou hadn't finished processing all the information he'd received, so he spoke haltingly, "But the so-called gas leak incident and the barrier at the school, aren't they all related to this?"
"Of course, you've seen it all with your own eyes, haven't you?"
"So, are you and Tohsaka going to do something similar?" (The novel website doesn't skip words.)
"Perhaps!" Jizi retorted loudly, "It would be more accurate to say that we should prevent those events from happening!"
"Mean?"
"Not all Magecraft participating in the Holy Grail War are high-quality citizens like us. If a villain with ulterior motives gets their hands on the Holy Grail, do you think something bad will happen? That's the power to grant any wish!"
"... this..."
"And do you remember that fire ten years ago—it was caused by the previous Holy Grail War!"
"!"
Now that she had started talking, Jizi simply told her everything at once. During the Ten-Year War, Kiritsugu participated as an ASTR, but lost everything. Heartbroken, he adopted two rescued orphans and spent his later years with Maiya. This was Jizi based on information from Rin and her deductions. Although there was no conclusive evidence, it was indeed quite credible.
"We don't know what happened to the final victor of that war who used the Holy Grail, but the consequences of that wish are etched into our very being! As far as I know, that guy also participated in this war, so do you want the same tragedy to repeat itself?"
Jizi was basically telling the truth, only making a slight change at the end to shift the Kirei Kotomine —well, it wasn't exactly lying, so it wasn't deception.
The reason she said this was to emphasize to Shirou the necessity and legitimacy of her and Rin's participation in the Holy Grail War. Otherwise, if he insisted on stopping her on the grounds of danger, Jizi wouldn't have a good solution.
"In that case," Shirou said slowly after thinking for a while after listening to Jizi's words, "We really can't just leave it unattended."
"Right? So I still have to go to the Tohsaka Residence later. Rin still needs my help, so you should rest early--"
"But!" There was no chance for Jizi to get away with it. "I must participate too!"
"Ha!?"
It seemed those words had had a slightly too-good effect. Jizi Zina covered her forehead in exasperation, but the next moment her expression suddenly changed, and she shouted loudly towards the door:
Who is it!
"Don't be nervous," the voice from outside was quite familiar to both of them, because they had almost been killed by that person not long ago. "I... I'm not here to fight!"
"So I already said, I'm not here to fight."
The man in the blue bodysuit swung his long spear to deflect the incoming blade, his tone sounding somewhat helpless.
"I already said, the Mask isn't in our hands, and even if it were, we wouldn't give it to you."
Jizi attached body-enhancing Magecraft to her limbs, and held a sharpened steel sword in her hand—which she obtained from the Fujimura Group. Although it wasn't made by a famous craftsman, it was sufficient as a weapon, and it had also been enhanced with Magecraft.
"Sigh, I really don't want to do this kind of work, but I've run into an annoying ASTR, there's just no way around it."
Jizi's slash was full of power, suppressing ANR like a storm, but the latter still had a relaxed attitude, which could be seen from the fact that he did not counterattack but simply dodged and blocked casually.
"I understand your difficulties, so I don't resent you—but please understand my position!"
"Everyone has their struggles, sigh."
On the surface, she was casually chatting with ANR, but in reality, Jizi was extremely shocked. With her Magecraft enhancement and a real sword in hand, she was confident that she could even surpass Fuji-nee. However, ANR was so unfathomable. She didn't even deliberately use her superhuman strength, but simply relied on her skills to deal with everything. Jizi hadn't even managed to hurt a hair on her head all day.
Shirou! Aren't you done yet?!
Immediately! Immediately!
Jizi was fighting ANR in the courtyard. Shirou wasn't qualified to interfere, so Jizi forcibly locked him in the Workshop with a barrier and told him from the outside to report to Rin immediately. Jizi and Rin had set up two-way communication channels in their respective Workshop, but because they were Magecraft, Shirou didn't seem to know how to use them very well.
"Oh, young lady, while I wouldn't mind playing with you here a little longer, my astr skills are going to be a nuisance, so I'm sorry—as Knight I must respect ladies, so I'll have to trouble that young man."
After blocking another side slash with his spear, ANR didn't push gently as before. Instead, he used the point of impact as a fulcrum and rotated the spear shaft ninety degrees like a lever, causing the rear of the spear to strike Jizi's waist.
"!"
Never having witnessed such a technique before, Jizi could only react instinctively, quickly jumping two large steps in the opposite direction. However, this exposed the Workshop door, which had been hidden behind her, to ANR.
"As long as you give me that Mask, I'll release the young man—whether you have it or not, you can find a way to get it, right?"
The barrier used to seal the door was merely a thin membrane in the face of Srvant's power; ANR opened the door with a gentle push. Although they hadn't yet captured the hostage, they had already made their declaration as kidnappers.
It was only when the door was pushed open that Jizi saw that the reason Shirou hadn't been able to send the message all this time was because he hadn't activated the communication Magic Circle at all.
"You idiot! That's a spirit-gathering Magic Circle! The communication is on the other side!"
"Ah! It's no use saying that—ouch!"
The glowing Magic Circle on the ground was an old spirit-gathering magic Magic Circle that existed before Jizi Zi set up the Workshop here. It was precisely because of its function that the ley line magic in the warehouse was denser than that in the other rooms, making it more suitable for setting up a Magecraft Workshop.
ANR closed in on Shirou step by step. It was too late for Jizi to catch up. In a desperate move, she threw her sword away, but Shirou stumbled and fell while retreating hastily, rolling off the spirit-gathering Magic Circle.
Huh? Jizi suddenly noticed that the spirit-gathering Magic Circle, which had always been passively activated and contained the earth's ley line magic, was now shining with an unusual light—even though it had never reacted actively before?
Moreover, the light seemed somewhat familiar. Although the color was different, it was just like the light I had seen before at the Tohsaka Residence when summoning Arhr.
"Gathering Spirits" can also be understood as "summoning spirits," and Heroic Spirit naturally fall under the category of "spirits." Considering the fact that the seventh ASTR has yet to appear, Jizi feels that she can already see what will happen next.
ANR, who was continuing forward, also sensed it and suddenly thrust his gun in that direction.
"Ang!"
The gun was blocked in the air, and only then could the three people present see clearly the beautiful yet awe-inspiring figure that emerged from the Magic Circle.
-----------------------ps-----------------
P. S. 1. Offering incense is associated with ghosts... Haven't I already said that? Because of papers, exams, spirits, etc., updates will be sporadic.
P. S. 2. Didn't I say that? I definitely did, in the group chat...
P. S. 3. Finally, SABR is out, the prologue is finally over... I'm exhausted.
Ps4. This, thank you [bahin] for the evaluation vote and [Dujuan's Weirdness] for the reward, thank you for your love, but really don't waste any more money! Book reviews and recommendations are enough, really! Although I am actually very happy in my heart, my remaining conscience makes me feel guilty. Besides, I couldn't get it in the first place, and I was blackmailed by the point girl...
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