Over the course of those few minutes of conversation, Touko Aozaki had also come to regard Orochimaru as an extremely dangerous existence—someone she should not provoke unless absolutely necessary.
She raised a hand and made a zipping-her-mouth gesture in front of her lips.
As Touko Aozaki made that gesture toward Orochimaru, the terrifying killing intent around him vanished without a trace the very next second.
Two simple lines of dialogue. One joking gesture.
Both intelligent people, Touko Aozaki and Orochimaru had silently reached some unspoken understanding.
"Aoko... are you ready to leave, or are you planning to stay with the Matou head?"
"Leave? Touko, have you already figured out the matter of..."
"Hehe... while you were playing with the little girl, I learned from Orochimaru about it already... a universal wish-granting machine... Servants... very interesting. What a pity. Who knows when it will be held again... I can only hope I won't miss the next one..."
As she spoke, Touko Aozaki cast a somewhat regretful glance at Fuyuki City, where even the ley lines had ceased to flow.
"Oh! Then go ahead and leave! Oh, remember to take that broken priest with you..."
Calmly pushing up her glasses, she had noticed that her younger sister, Aoko Aozaki, was hiding something from her.
But just as Aoko Aozaki had discovered Touko Aozaki's secret and said nothing about it...
Touko Aozaki likewise said nothing. Perhaps this was the tacit understanding carved into the NDA of two sisters who had not met or contacted each other for nearly ten years after that night...
She turned and walked to the edge of the convenience store roof. For reasons unknown, Touko Aozaki, who had already obtained the information she wanted, suddenly stopped. She turned to Sakura and sincerely offered her a piece of advice.
"Matou head... leave Fuyuki City as soon as possible... Fuyuki City will soon become the center of a storm..."
Without waiting for Sakura to react, Touko Aozaki coolly leaped straight off the convenience store roof, landing in the alley below.
By the time Sakura wanted to ask what Touko Aozaki had meant, she had rushed to the edge of the roof only to find that Touko Aozaki and Kirei Kotomine had long since vanished.
Touko Aozaki would never say something without reason!
Though Touko Aozaki was theoretically also someone with terrible tastes who enjoyed tricking people, under these circumstances, facing Sakura, whom she had only just met—and after obtaining the information she wanted from Sakura... Touko Aozaki had absolutely no reason to deceive her.
Just as Sakura was dwelling on Touko Aozaki's words...
Aoko Aozaki, who had walked up behind her, spoke.
"Although Touko often tricks people... Sakura, she was right this time. If possible, you really should leave Fuyuki City as soon as you can..."
"Big Sister Aoko... can you tell me why?"
PS: A brief explanation of the upcoming plot... This transitional Fuyuki City arc is nearing its end. After these chapters, Sakura will change her approach and begin taking the initiative, stirring things up...
Still four updates today...
Leave Fuyuki City?
After seeing off Aoko Aozaki, whose expression had been somewhat complicated...
Sakura had told Aoko Aozaki everything about encountering King Hassan during the Holy Grail War and being forced by the Counter Force to swing her blade.
Her face was now filled with dejection.
Compared to Touko Aozaki, who had freeloaded information from her through "force" not long ago...
Aoko Aozaki, who had likewise come to Sakura seeking information for another purpose, was clearly much more generous than her sister.
After Touko Aozaki left, Aoko Aozaki not only demonstrated the "Fifth Law—Blue" at Sakura's request, but also gave Sakura quite a bit of information.
That included why Touko Aozaki had ultimately advised Sakura to leave Fuyuki City as soon as possible.
It had not even been a full day since Artoria was exposed at the Clock Tower.
Yet... the impact she had caused had already formed into a storm in less than a day.
And in this storm... the Three Founding Families of Fuyuki City would undoubtedly bear the brunt of it.
Do not think everyone was an idiot.
At the center of the Magecraft world—Europe—who knew how many monsters were hidden away, or how many secret families possessed lineages stretching back thousands of years.
Even on that continent where magecraft thrived, old monsters who clung to life like Zouken Matou were not uncommon...
The Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City had been secret, carefully concealed...
But as long as someone was determined enough, those people who would do anything in pursuit of the Root and the Age of Gods could find scattered clues in history...
For example, Danic Preston Yggdmillennia, head of the Yggdmillennia Family—known as the Thousand Tree Realm clan—which wielded considerable influence in the Magecraft world.
As one of only two "Grand" Magi of the current age, this "old man" looked to be only in his thirties, but was actually nearly a hundred years old.
He had come into contact with the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City decades ago.
But due to certain accidents, he had not chosen to come to Fuyuki City and participate in the Third Holy Grail War back then, thus missing the branch that would have led this Timeline into "F/A."
Originally, the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War had become nothing more than a passing memory in his life.
But the recent journeys of two Lords to Fuyuki City, along with the storm caused by Artoria's exposure at the Clock Tower not long ago, had awakened Danic's long-buried memories...
There were not many Magi like Danic who had directly or indirectly come into contact with the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, but... there were always a few.
Even if they had long since become dust... as this storm intensified.
Some of their notes and records... could still be unearthed.
Thus, some information about the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War... inevitably leaked out!
Although the information that the Fuyuki Holy Grail could realize Third Magic had not yet been leaked, news that it could grant most wishes and summon genuine Servants was already spreading like wildfire throughout the Magecraft world.
If Fuyuki City were in Europe, Magi would probably have already swaggered up to the doors of the Three Founding Families.
Well, someone had already come knocking, actually. Touko Aozaki had only just left...
But even if Fuyuki City could still enjoy a few days of peace, it would not last long.
According to the information Aoko had provided, quite a few families were already planning to organize their main forces and head for Fuyuki City.
Therefore, Sakura truly should heed Touko Aozaki's advice and leave Fuyuki City early...
"How did things turn out like this? There has to be someone behind the scenes stirring things up..."
She let out a helpless sigh.
Sakura really did not want to leave Fuyuki City just like that.
It was not because she could not bear to part with the city, nor because she feared the Matou Family's investments in Fuyuki City would be completely lost, much less because she worried those people would discover the Great Holy Grail and learn the Holy Grail's true purpose.
Sakura simply felt unwilling to accept it.
After all, moving to another city would not affect the wealthy Sakura in the slightest. Lost investments could be earned back, and she had also taken plenty of cash and jewelry from the Einzbern, so she was not short on money for the time being.
As for the Great Holy Grail and the Holy Grail's true purpose being exposed, or being taken away like in F/A, she was even less worried about that.
Not to mention that the next Holy Grail War would not arrive for more than a decade, around the time "President Gai" began lighting the fire.
As for moving the Great Holy Grail... that depended on whether Irisviel, the Winter Saintess, agreed.
Besides creating an inferior Third Magic User for herself, the Winter Saintess plan's most important purpose was to insure the Great Holy Grail.
Without Irisviel's permission, let alone moving the Great Holy Grail, only a handful of people who even conceived of the idea could reach it.
As the Great Holy Grail's "control AI," Irisviel could remotely control the Great Holy Grail to do certain things, such as... expel magical energy.
In theory, if she released all the magical energy accumulated in the Great Holy Grail over several decades at once... that rampaging wave of magical energy could erase several Fuyuki Cities from the map without much trouble.
Just as Sakura... was torn over whether she should avoid this storm.
Tokiomi Tohsaka, who had left Zenjo Villa long ago but had walked all the way to Fuyuki City on his own two feet because he neither understood nor liked modern technology, appeared before the gates of the Matou Residence.
He looked at Sakura, who sat quietly in the Matou Residence garden, seemingly troubled by something.
Having walked dozens of miles without gathering even a speck of dust, Tokiomi Tohsaka remained as elegant as ever as he slowly let out a breath.
Yet the moment Tokiomi Tohsaka entered through the already-open gates of the Matou Residence and passed through its simple barrier.
A vicious glint appeared on his face, and the heart he had just settled was raised once more.
In such a short time, the traces of battle in the courtyard naturally could not have been repaired.
The scorched and shattered courtyard plainly told Tokiomi Tohsaka... someone had attacked his daughter not long ago.
"Sakura... are you all right?!"
Hearing Tokiomi Tohsaka's concerned question, Sakura, who had been immersed in her dilemma and had not known he arrived because he was on the barrier's whitelist, abruptly raised her head. An unfamiliar expression appeared on her face.
Sakura was happy about Tokiomi Tohsaka's concern... but the reborn Sakura was also unaccustomed to it...
"Dad... Head of the Tohsaka Family, I'm fine."
A trace of gloom flashed across his face. Faced with the way Sakura so clearly distanced herself from him, Tokiomi Tohsaka could not help feeling regret.
He sat down directly beside Sakura and looked at his former daughter... After personally confirming that she was truly unharmed.
Tokiomi Tohsaka temporarily suppressed the gloom and regret in his heart, then quickly followed Sakura's lead and, as the head of the Tohsaka Family and an ally of the Matou Family, asked about what had happened today...
The Wind Was Rising...
"The Fifth Magic User... a Grand—Miss Touko... Sakura, your experience today was truly perilous."
He looked with deep emotion at the pride he once had, the pride he had so easily given away...
Tokiomi Tohsaka, who naturally exuded elegance in everything he did, now did not seem elegant in the slightest. Instead, he appeared somewhat haggard...
"It was indeed perilous... Head of the Tohsaka Family, do you think we should leave Fuyuki City for now?"
"If the information revealed by that magus is true, I believe we should leave... However, before leaving, we must properly conceal the Great Holy Grail. And after leaving... we must also arrange how to avoid being drawn into this storm in advance. Otherwise, leaving rashly would be pointless."
"So we need to prepare an escape route in advance..."
Sakura turned to look at Tokiomi Tohsaka. She was not worried that her mother and sister would lack an escape route if they followed Tokiomi out of Fuyuki City.
After all, the Tohsaka Family and Tokiomi Tohsaka still had enough connections to ensure their safety.
Combined with their status as descendants of Zelretch's disciple, the Magecraft Association was unlikely to exterminate the Tohsaka Family.
But the Matou Family... not to say they had no connections, but any they did have belonged to Zouken Matou.
As for anything else... besides Sakura's cheat, there seemed to be nothing that could guarantee their safety.
Thinking of her cheat, Sakura silently called out to the system and opened the Panel once more.
Perhaps because of this storm, as the Magecraft world fell into turmoil, the destiny trajectories of certain people were naturally affected as well. Sure enough, Sakura's Panel had gained more than a thousand points compared to before, bringing her Destiny Points to 9,780 units.
But she was still 220 Destiny Points short of the next character Sakura intended to exchange for... 9,780 was still 220 short.
That was right, the next character Sakura wanted to exchange for required a full ten thousand Destiny Points!
But this was not for a single character. The reason this new character required ten times Orochimaru's points and five times Kurumi's points was because while exchanging for her, Sakura also intended to exchange for something crucial to increase that character's potential.
I'm only 220 points away from meeting Cult Leader Sister... should I...?
She stared intently at the breathtaking emerald green figure on the exchange page of the Panel... Whether it was the sense of security brought by that figure or Sakura's unwillingness at work, she quietly made a decision.
A decision that might surprise everyone.
But to Tokiomi Tohsaka, who could not see the Panel, Sakura's actions meant something else entirely.
"Sakura, are you worried about an escape route?"
Naturally, Sakura could not tell Tokiomi Tohsaka what she was thinking.
So when she heard him ask that, too lazy to think of an excuse, Sakura simply nodded.
"Yes. I'm not particularly worried about myself... but Shinji and Uncle Tsuruno, they..."
"That is indeed a problem, especially since Shinji possesses that kind of power."
Tokiomi Tohsaka answered along Sakura's line of thought. Feeling that this was an opportunity, an opportunity to make amends to Sakura, he immediately continued.
"But if you trust me, Sakura, perhaps I can help you solve this problem..."
"The Edelfelt Family, right?"
"How did you know?"
Before you continue