The maid legion in the Garden lowered their weapons as well.
Obviously... faced with the threat, Yubstach Haider chose to compromise.
"I agree to hand over everything belonging to the Einzbern... except myself!"
PS: I don't know the exact location of the Einzbern estate either, so I just picked Norway at random. Please go easy on me if it's wrong...
Matou Illyasviel
Would Sakura want Yubstach Haider?
Of course not. What use did she have for this artificial "idiot," whose purpose from the very beginning had been to recreate the Third Magic?
So, when faced with Yubstach Haider's condition...
Sakura straightforwardly agreed.
After all, Sakura had never truly intended to pack up and take the entire Einzbern away. Her main targets were the Einzbern's alchemy, magecraft, and Illya...
Of course, when she left the Norwegian mountains with the spoils of this trip, Sakura also conveniently took a large amount of the Einzbern family's cash. The Einzbern were not short on money anyway, so she considered it child support for Irisviel and Illya...
On the Boeing 747 chartered by the Matou Family, flying from Norway to Fuyuki City, Japan...
Hundreds of homunculus maids sat in silence.
Orochimaru, who was trying out her new body after becoming Orobouhime, eagerly flipped through the materials taken from the Einzbern estate.
As for Sakura...
After a brief exchange with Kurumi in her shadow, she carried a huge pile of snacks bought at the airport and walked over to the timid Illya.
Illya could not be blamed for being afraid.
After all, she was not yet the Maiden from the future Timeline, the one who had undergone Yubstach Haider's brainwashing-style upbringing.
She was merely a little loli two years older than Sakura, who looked like a six-year-old young girl on the surface.
She had suddenly been kidnapped—and her entire family had been kidnapped and robbed along with her... How could Illya possibly not be afraid?
Sakura sat directly beside Illya, who was curled up in her chair like a little quail.
Then, regardless of how frightened Illya was, Sakura shoved a lollipop that had already been unwrapped into Illya's mouth with a swish.
"Sweet, right?"
Illya blankly glanced at Sakura. Looking at this little girl, who seemed even younger than herself yet had forced "Grandfather" into doing something like that...
Illya did not dare relax just because Sakura looked small.
"I... I'm sorry..."
"? Why are you apologizing... I just asked whether the lollipop was sweet!"
"I... I'm sorry..."
Faced with Illya, who seemed frightened out of her wits and completely unable to communicate.
Sakura, who had originally intended to use her appearance to start interacting with Illya like a new friend and build some rapport, helplessly changed her plan and directly revealed her trump card.
"Sigh... Never mind, Illya."
"I... I'm here..."
"My name is Sakura Matou. I'm the current head of the Matou Family. You can call me Sakura from now on."
"Um... okay..."
"Whew, am I really that scary... Forget it, I'll tell you directly, Illya. I came to take you to see your mother... And... your father Kiritsugu can go see her too..."
"Mother... Mama... Kiritsugu... Is what you said true?"
Seeing the hopeful look appear on Illya's face, and seeing her look at Sakura's face for the first time, into her eyes, finally daring to meet her gaze.
Sakura immediately smiled in satisfaction.
She then pulled several photographs from her pocket and handed them to Illya.
These photographs were none other than pictures Sakura had taken when she held Irisviel like a body pillow after acquiring her.
Sakura had originally planned to keep them as souvenirs, but clearly, they were useful now.
"I'm sorry, but your Father, Kiritsugu Emiya, really is dead... However, your mother Irisviel isn't. She's recovering from her injuries at my house..."
"Recovering... Mama was hurt?"
Illya lowered her head to look at the photographs, her lips pouting unhappily. Then she raised her head and directly asked Sakura.
"More or less... But don't worry. I've figured out a treatment plan. Irisviel will recover."
"Then... was my mother kidnapped by you too? Like me..."
"No, of course not. When did I ever kidnap anyone? You and Irisviel were both invited by me, weren't you?"
Sakura widened her eyes with a hint of threat in them as she smiled at Illya. Clearly, her mischievous streak was acting up again...
However, Sakura was disappointed this time.
Faced with Sakura's threatening gaze, Illya—whose earlier fear had mostly been an act—had a flash of slyness in her eyes. Then, completely refusing to play along, she put on an expression that said, Is that supposed to scare me?
"Sakura, you're not scary at all... You actually want my mother and me to join the Matou Family, right?"
As the next lesser Holy Grail of the Einzbern, Illya had not yet begun receiving Yubstach Haider's lesser Holy Grail training because of Kiritsugu Emiya.
But she had already begun studying magecraft and had read quite a few books and records from the Einzbern collection, so she was no ignorant child.
Illya understood at least a little of the twists and turns within the Magecraft world.
It could even be said that compared to the innocent Irisviel, who was as pure as snow, Illya was naturally much more cunning and clever than her mother in such matters because of Kiritsugu Emiya.
"Tch, was that fear an act... That's right, I have my eyes on your mother. But there's one thing you got wrong—I don't have my eyes on you!"
Illya puffed out her little cheeks. After hearing Sakura's words, she immediately became indignant.
After all, Sakura not only wanted to steal her mother, but also acted as though Illya was merely an extra thrown in with the deal.
Still... even though she was angry, Illya had no way to deal with Sakura.
"Okay, I was joking... The Matou Family needs your talent too."
Hearing Sakura say that, Illya was no longer angry inside, but she still maintained an angry expression on the surface. After snorting coldly at Sakura, she turned her head away.
However, flying from Northern Europe to Japan took quite some time.
Sure enough, after a while, Illya, who had been acting as though she would not speak to Sakura, began to have her little stomach growl as time passed.
Sakura glanced at Illya, who looked embarrassed and kept stealing glances at her and the snacks beside her...
This time, Sakura did not teasingly torment the poor child for her own amusement. Instead, she generously picked up a large pile of snacks and placed them in Illya's arms.
"Eat. It'll still be a while before we get back to Japan..."
"Thank you..."
"What are you thanking me for, Illya..."
"Mm."
"Illyasviel von Einzbern, on behalf of the Matou Family, I sincerely invite you... Become Matou Illyasviel!"
"Matou Illyasviel..."
Illya repeated her new name. She had no real choice to begin with, and she was no fool. After glancing at Sakura's smiling face, she perfunctorily held out her little hand and shook Sakura's. Then she turned away and ignored Sakura, stuffing snacks into her mouth in huge bites. She truly must have been starving...
Farewell, Great Holy Grail—Zouken Matou from Five Hundred Years Ago...
A week had already passed by the time they returned to Fuyuki City from Norway.
During that week, Tsuruno Matou, the Matou Family's chief steward, had been worked to the bone.
More than three hundred homunculus maids needed to be settled, and the Matou Family's new residence required him to contact construction crews and designers... Tsuruno had barely gotten a good night's sleep all week.
While Tsuruno was busy throughout that week, the other members of the Matou Family were not having an easy time either.
Because... after Sakura returned to Fuyuki City, the Winter Saintess plan was immediately put into action.
Using Irisviel to fuse with the remaining fragments of the Winter Saintess within the Great Holy Grail and create a second Winter Saintess... Calling this plan difficult would not be entirely accurate, but calling it simple would be wrong as well.
It was not difficult only because Irisviel and the entire series of "homunculi" like her had been created using the Winter Saintess as their template.
They were, in essence, replicas of the Winter Saintess.
As long as they could handle the Winter Saintess, and make certain adjustments to Irisviel, Irisviel could completely become the second Winter Saintess.
But it was indeed not simple. While the Winter Saintess had a series of theoretical possibilities, actual implementation was far from easy. The knowledge involved was not something Sakura and Orochimaru, who had only studied magecraft for a few years, could manage.
What was more, much of that knowledge involved the Great Holy Grail. Even if Sakura invited Bartholomello, one of the public-facing peaks of the Magecraft world, to help now, she probably would not be much better than Sakura, who only had a superficial grasp of it.
However... since Sakura dared propose this plan, she naturally had a way to make it happen.
And this trump card... was Zouken Matou, that unlucky old man Sakura had exploited several times already...
In terms of understanding the Holy Grail and accumulated magecraft knowledge, this old man who had lived for more than five hundred years would probably have no equal if he claimed second place.
Especially when it came to understanding the Holy Grail, Zouken Matou was absolutely the foremost authority in the world today.
His magecraft knowledge might not compare with certain prodigies or nonhuman beings, but among ordinary Magi, Zouken Matou was definitely one of the very best...
Therefore, as long as they could deal with Zouken Matou.
The Winter Saintess plan would be far more than empty talk.
However, dealing with this old man would not be easy... unless Sakura cheated.
The cave leading to the Great Holy Grail's location.
This was Sakura's second visit.
Compared with the first time, when she had to endure all kinds of extreme conditions as soon as she entered, the cave now no longer had flowing ley lines.
Sakura's walk through it this time was incomparably smooth.
And compared with the grandfather-granddaughter pair who had come last time, the number of people here had doubled.
Besides Zouken Matou, who was sealed inside a bottle, Irisviel—who had already awakened but whose bodily functions had begun to collapse—and Kurumi Tokisaki had also joined the group this time.
"Ten years less mana... The Great Holy Grail is so much dimmer than last time."
Walking to the deepest part of the cave where the Great Holy Grail's foundation was located, Sakura could not help sighing as she looked at the visibly dimmer Great Holy Grail.
"Is it all right, Sakura... Won't this affect your plan?"
"Don't worry, Sister Irisviel. It'll be fine. Even if there is a problem, I can cover it..."
As she spoke, Sakura looked at the Panel that only she could see.
8,570 units of Destiny Points. That was Sakura's current fortune.
Without a doubt, it was this unprecedented amount of Destiny Points that gave Sakura such confidence.
If they really lacked mana, Sakura could just take a loss and directly trade destiny for mana.
Hearing Sakura's confident words, a faint smile appeared on Irisviel's somewhat pale face.
As for Kurumi beside them, she had trusted Sakura completely from beginning to end. Naturally, she would not ask the sort of question Irisviel had...
Sakura accepted the bottle containing Zouken Matou from Kurumi.
Ignoring the old worm's frenzied curses inside the bottle...
Sakura had originally planned to directly turn the old worm into a sub-species Holy Grail, allowing him to achieve another kind of eternity. But because of the Winter Saintess plan... she changed her mind.
Why had Zouken Matou—or rather, Makiri Zolgen, who had once possessed noble ideals—become what he was now... become an old worm hated by all...
The reason was actually simple: decay... His body and soul had both decayed.
His body could still be replaced... but his soul could never be replaced.
And as his soul grew increasingly decayed, he not only forgot his former ideals, but his entire being twisted into the old worm he was now.
Before you continue