As if a storm were about to break... In other words, the magecraft world that had been active on the surface was thrown into complete turmoil.
Fuyuki City in particular. Previously, the various families had been openly and secretly fighting one another there, each acting on its own.
But now, after Sakura showed off her strength and nearly scared the Clock Tower's upper ranks senseless, Fuyuki City—regarded as the front line of an imminent East-West confrontation—suddenly became peaceful instead.
Yet in the eyes of those Association higher-ups, who had become hopelessly trapped in their own speculations, this peace was only temporary... In their eyes, a violent storm would likely follow.
However... on the third day after the Clock Tower's upper ranks made their mistaken judgment and came up with an utterly absurd answer.
Zelretch, who had left immediately when Luo Hao stopped fighting for some unknown reason after their battle, returned.
The layer forty to sixty kilometers beneath the surface of the Albion Necropolis was called the Ancient Heart Layer.
Because a dragon's heart had been excavated there, it was generally regarded as a special ritual site. At the same time, this layer, which possessed the most powerful mystical barrier on the surface, was also... where the Grand Council Resolution was convened.
And at this moment, a Grand Council Resolution was underway.
"You say the Spiral Hall and the Mountain Court intend to expand beyond that continent?"
"That is correct, Marshal. Based on our analysis and judgment, the Mage's Association is about to face a true challenge. We need your strength..."
Standing at the center of the Magic Circle where the Grand Council Resolution was being held, Zelretch scratched his head like an old child after hearing the statement from the head of the Barreleta Family, the council's representative.
Then he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! How did you come up with such an absurd conclusion? Don't tell me it was because of that girl Tohsaka Sakura and the ridiculously powerful woman under her command."
"Precisely so, Lord Zelretch."
"Pfft. Are you entertaining this old man?
"That girl Tohsaka Sakura is the descendant of my disciple, Zelretch. How could those people from the East possibly let her join them? And that ridiculously powerful woman—the power she used, while I cannot determine its exact nature, was unquestionably the power of a deity. It does not belong to the Mountain Court's system at all.
"If you insist on saying it has anything to do with them, then perhaps only Qi does.
"But plenty of cultivation methods for Qi have leaked out from there. What would be so strange about that girl Tohsaka Sakura and that woman possessing it?"
"Wait... Lord Zelretch, the Tohsaka Sakura you mentioned, could she be Miss Sakura Matou?"
"Oh, so she was adopted into the Matou Family on this timeline? That poor child... It seems she was always adopted out by that idiot Tokiomi."
Raising a hand to stroke his beard, Zelretch—who for some reason felt a particular affinity and fondness toward this generation of Tohsaka descendants, Rin and Sakura—immediately revealed a trace of regret on his face.
I wonder how this world's Rin Tohsaka compares to her younger sister, To... Sakura Matou.
The Lords present looked at one another.
A strange atmosphere immediately spread among them.
If everything was truly as Zelretch said... then it seemed they had done something monumentally foolish these past few days.
But... if Sakura truly was not affiliated with the Spiral Hall or the Mountain Court, then that was undoubtedly good news for the Clock Tower.
If she was not one of theirs, then Sakura and Luo Hao were wild powerhouses who could potentially be recruited into the Mage's Association.
Just as the Lords began silently communicating in private through meaningful glances and minor magecraft.
Marisbury and Kischur Zelretch, who had not expressed any stance throughout the meeting and had not acted alongside the other Lords, smiled at that moment. Their smiles were especially radiant.
"Cough, cough. Everyone... since the Marshal has helped Miss Sakura Matou verify her background, I shall take this opportunity to present her request for a duel."
As he spoke, Kischur Zelretch turned toward Bartholomello's representative.
"Lord El-Melloi, speak plainly. The family head has granted me full authority."
"Miss Sakura Matou's request is... that my disciple, Mr. Waver Velvet, become director of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau and accept her command. Furthermore, the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau must be relocated to a certain isolated island in the North Sea..."
A series of somewhat envious gazes turned toward Kischur Zelretch. Compared with them, El-Melloi had seized the initiative long ago—they naturally knew that—but they had not expected... the benefits to be this great.
The Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau... What an enormous appetite.
The Lords present did not believe the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau was something Sakura and the Matou Family wanted. After all, those magecraft treasures subject to Sealing Designation should theoretically have been worthless to Sakura, whose primary cultivation was Qi.
Therefore, all the Lords naturally believed this move was Kischur Zelretch's attempt to swallow the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau while taking advantage of the situation.
What did the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau represent? It represented more than thirty elite combat magi at the very peak of their strength.
Naturally, not a single Lord present was willing to hand that force over to Kischur Zelretch.
Seeing the Lords fall silent one after another, Kischur Zelretch tapped his legs, which had still not recovered, then coughed and spoke.
"This is Miss Sakura Matou's request... If you refuse, this young lady will not merely establish a new prison, Azkaban. I hear she previously considered building a magecraft academy called Hogwarts in Scotland..."
At Kischur Zelretch's renewed statement, the Lords cast openly hostile looks at him.
Waves of magical energy began pouring forth from one Lord after another, pressing down on the "helpless" Kischur Zelretch.
Just as Kischur Zelretch was drenched in sweat and cold sweat under the Lords' combined pressure, Zelretch, who had been watching their performance, suddenly made the final decision.
"Enough, enough. It is only a Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau. If that girl Sakura wants it, give it to her. You need not worry too much that Sakura will disrupt the balance you people have maintained. If that girl acts recklessly, this old man still has some ability to deal with her."
Since Zelretch had said so, what else could they do?
Unless the Clock Tower's headmaster—more elusive and mysterious than Zelretch, a divine dragon whose head was seen but never its tail—appeared to veto it, who could oppose Zelretch's "reasonable" request?
"Then it is settled. In accordance with Miss Sakura Matou's request, the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau will be handed over to Kischur Zelretch's disciple for management and placed under Miss Sakura Matou's command... As for everyone's losses, we of Bartholomello will compensate them afterward. However... Kischur Zelretch, matters regarding Miss Sakura Matou's entry into the Mage's Association will be handled by you...
"That concludes the meeting. Oh, and... do not forget to immediately recall the intelligence personnel sent to the East after the meeting. We must put an end to this foolish misjudgment as quickly as possible..."
Azkaban and Dementors...
Inside El-Melloi Castle.
Receiving the letter of appointment Kischur Zelretch handed him, Waver stared blankly in disbelief. Even though the appointment was already in his hands, he still could not believe it.
"Teacher... I have become the director of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau just like that?"
"Of course. The letter of appointment is already in your hands. Do you still doubt it?"
"No... I..."
Clutching one corner of the appointment letter tightly, Waver stammered for a long while but ultimately failed to say a complete sentence.
Excitement, worry, insecurity...
Perhaps all of those were there.
More than anything, it simply felt unreal.
After all, he had done nothing, yet had directly become the head of a powerful department within the Mage's Association... Did things as good as pie falling from the sky truly exist in this world?
Thus, carrying uneasy and confused emotions, Waver, newly appointed director of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau, began his tenure.
Upon the rolling sea, aboard a lone boat.
Holding the appointment letter and setting out to assume office with his teacher's adopted younger sister, Waver vomited the entire way.
On the temporarily constructed boat powered by magical energy.
Kyoko, a homunculus maid born from the Einzbern Family, controlled the boat's direction with one hand while repeatedly turning her expressionless face toward Waver, who had been sprawled at the stern and retching ever since boarding.
Embarrassed beyond measure by her older brother's new disciple making such a spectacle of himself, Lineas, who was also aboard the boat, nearly wanted to kick Waver straight into the sea.
But... Lineas could not do that.
If she wished to fulfill her brother Kischur Zelretch's arrangements and spend several years training within the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau under Sakura's rule, she had to rely on Waver, the bureau's nominal director...
This voyage went extremely smoothly. Aside from Waver nearly dying, the homunculus maid Kyoko could be said to have performed her duties perfectly.
After mooring the boat at the recently excavated small dock.
Holding a lantern fueled by burning magical energy for light, Kyoko was the first to leap ashore. Then, facing the jagged rocky coast, she began repeatedly opening and closing the lantern at a peculiar, rhythmic frequency.
Supporting the completely drained Waver, Lineas—whose height did not even reach Waver's chest—did not immediately leave the boat. Seeing Kyoko's actions, she understood that this isolated island, which had only just become the home of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau, was far from simple.
Sure enough, after Kyoko spent an entire minute sending a complex sequence of light signals.
A road that had absolutely not existed there before appeared directly on the jagged coast.
"Please follow me."
Hurrying to support the weak-legged Waver as she followed, six-year-old Lineas had to activate powerful magecraft just to move Waver, a burden nearly beyond what she could bear.
Stepping onto the path and ascending the jagged coast.
After following the road up the shore, a massive fortress constructed from the island's distinctive black stone immediately appeared before Lineas and Waver.
However, the fortress was clearly still unfinished. At various points throughout it, many maids who looked and dressed extremely similarly to Kyoko were constantly moving about, carrying stone blocks mined from who knew where.
Lineas did not care about the unfinished fortress, which looked crude and unsuitable for human habitation. Though she was a young lady, she understood her mission and why she had come here. She was not afraid of a difficult life or poor conditions.
But... for some reason, once she stepped onto the island, Lineas suddenly felt her mood become gloomy, as if she were being intensely oppressed.
Just as Waver finally recovered enough to walk on his own and no longer needed Lineas to support him.
Lineas, following Kyoko as they gradually approached the fortress, saw a "nightmare."
Terror? Disbelief? Endless questions?
Lineas did not know what expression she wore at that moment, but the bizarre monster that suddenly darted out from nearby instinctively filled her with the most primal fear and revulsion.
"What is that?"
Pointing at the creature that had suddenly appeared ahead of the road—a monster cloaked in robes, its entire body seeming as though it had rotted after soaking in water, with scabbed hands and the appearance of a decaying ghost—Lineas shuddered all over as she questioned Kyoko.
"A Dementor. The prison guard of this island."
"A Dementor?" x2
Lineas and Waver looked at each other. Without question, they had never heard of a monster with such a name.
But there was one thing they could be certain of: the Dementor was absolutely not anything pleasant.
If merely stepping onto the island had initially left them feeling oppressed and depressed.
Then upon seeing the Dementor, thoughts of despair even began surfacing in Lineas and Waver's hearts.
"You may ask the family head for the specifics after meeting her. I am only a maid... I do not know the details of the Dementors created by my lady. Please rest assured, it is merely conducting a routine inspection and will not attack us."
Sure enough, just as Kyoko had said, after circling the three of them several times and seemingly confirming some information, the Dementor that had suddenly emerged from nowhere drifted toward a nearby rock before vanishing from their sight.
As the Dementor left, Lineas and Waver immediately felt much better.
But at the same time, traces of despair appeared on their faces... After all, if Dementors were the prison guards of this island, then they would likely have to live alongside such creatures in the future.
The same was true for the other operatives of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau.
As the Grand Council Resolution concluded, Sakura agreed to Kischur Zelretch's invitation to join the Mage's Association and formally lead the Matou Family into the Association...
Naturally, appointment letters from the Grand Council Resolution were delivered into the hands of every member of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau.
They had thought that, at most, they would simply continue working in another location...
Who could have known that the island Sakura named Azkaban would be such a terrifying place...
At that moment, the former personnel of the Sealing Designation Enforcement Bureau, arriving at Azkaban from all directions around the island and from different locations, all wore the same traces of despair as Waver and Lineas.
Yet their despair was nothing compared to that of the Sealing Designation targets imprisoned within the bureau, whose qualifications had not been sufficient for them to be sent to the observatory at the lowest level of the Albion Necropolis.
It could be said that from their very first day at Azkaban, they regretted not having been soaked in formalin tanks back when they were imprisoned...
The Down-and-Out Tohsakas and El-Mellois
Time always passed quickly without anyone noticing... More than half a year had passed since Sakura's arrival at the Clock Tower.
During those six months, the turmoil caused by Sakura's arrival at the Clock Tower had been completely quelled.
The chaos in Fuyuki City had also gradually calmed as Sakura established herself firmly within the Clock Tower.
But Fuyuki City's calm was merely superficial. Whether the Association or those great families, none had abandoned their investigation into Fuyuki City's Holy Grail.
Due to the awkward situation of having no home to return to.
After leaving Fuyuki City for more than half a year and hiding with the Edelfelt Family for all that time, the Tohsaka Family recently contacted Zelretch. With his guarantee, they finally came to the Clock Tower.
And not long after the Tohsaka Family arrived at the Clock Tower, Kischur Zelretch, who had been recuperating from his injuries for more than half a year, finally recovered.
However... Kischur Zelretch's injuries this time had been far too severe. Even after recovering, his Mage Circuits had inevitably suffered some deterioration.
Fortunately, Kischur Zelretch's abilities were still there. Even with some deterioration in his Mage Circuits, he could still support El-Melloi as it continued onward.
Before you continue