Everything else was worthless in their eyes.
However, being soaked in formalin meant they could no longer study or research magecraft.
Therefore, no orthodox magus could ever accept such a thing.
As for less orthodox magi, that depended. A big forest had all kinds of birds, and after so many years of the Mage's Association's existence, it would be impossible for there not to be one or two oddballs.
But Sakura and Zouken Matou were absolutely not that kind of oddball.
Sakura's talent was definitely enough to warrant a Sealing Designation. If someone leaked information about her to the Mage's Association, the chances of Sakura receiving a Sealing Designation would be extraordinarily high.
But compared to Sakura, if someone revealed information about Zouken Matou or the Great Holy Grail to the Mage's Association, then Zouken Matou's chances of receiving a Sealing Designation would be one thousand percent.
The Mage's Association would never let go of a magus who had lived for over five hundred years, nor would it ignore the Great Holy Grail that might realize the Third Magic.
Therefore, in Sakura's eyes, Zouken Matou's threat was actually a joke.
Still, Zouken Matou did have a chance of making a last-ditch stand, though that chance was so low it was practically nonexistent.
But Sakura had no intention of gambling on the courage of that old monster.
Besides... Zouken Matou's betrayal had always been part of Sakura's plan.
Because... Sakura had never intended to participate in something like the Holy Grail War herself.
Whether before or after confirming the Timeline... the true Master Sakura chose to represent the Matou Family in the Holy Grail War had always been Zouken Matou.
It was just that before learning which Timeline she was in, Sakura had decided to let Shinji Matou use the Book of False Vassals to control a Servant and fight in the Fourth Holy Grail War. Now, however, Sakura had decided to send that old man Zouken Matou directly into this battle.
After all, Sakura's goal from beginning to end had been to obtain the complete Great Holy Grail... not the lesser Holy Grail, whose main function was to be filled with Servant corpses and drill a hole.
The Third Magic was nice, but drilling a hole to reach the Outer World, a place where no one knew whether they could return, in order to obtain a Third Magic no one knew they could acquire... such a gamble had never been among Sakura's options.
Bending down to pick up the severed hand Sakura had thrown over, Zouken Matou looked at the three bright-red Command Seals on it.
His eyes nearly narrowed into slits, and the instant he saw the Command Seals, Zouken Matou understood Sakura's intentions.
"You spent so much money and effort... You even spared no expense building a passage to this Ley Line Node... and in the end, you handed it over to this old man... What exactly do you want, Sakura?!"
"Money and effort? Grandfather, are you sure I spent any of that?"
What money had Sakura spent? Wasn't it all what Zouken Matou had accumulated over several centuries? As for effort, Sakura had indeed put in a little, but that was all.
Compared to the effort Sakura had spent studying the Yellow Court Scripture and even the magic from the Harry Potter series, what she had put into this was not worth mentioning at all.
Only her trip to the Great Holy Grail had truly required her devotion, but that had mainly been to learn about the Timeline she was in through the Great Holy Grail.
Thus, the money and effort Zouken Matou spoke of practically did not exist.
"Alright, Grandfather. Let this old man's rebellion end here... But in exchange for your qualification in the Holy Grail War, transfer the deed to the Spiritual Land to Uncle Tsuruno yourself when you return."
"Heh heh... This old man will have someone deliver it to that fellow Tsuruno..."
Casually peeling the skin bearing the Command Seals off the severed hand, Zouken Matou stuffed the bloodied human skin into his robes. Amid his trademark eerie chuckle, he turned into countless flying insects and vanished from the Ley Line Node containing the Pseudo-Holy Grail.
"Heh heh, struggle all you want. Squeeze out every last bit of your value, Zouken Matou. You have no idea what you're about to face... Ah! Damn, I need to get back to Orochimaru first, or my idiot sister might overdo it with the ley lines."
Activating Teleportation again, Sakura transformed into a mass of eerie black mist and soared upward. She quickly returned to the surface through the artificially excavated passage, then seemed to remember something and reappeared at the instant she flew out of the opening.
Looking down at the piece of trash called Ryunosuke Uryu at her feet, Sakura, who had taken his Command Seal-bearing right hand just minutes earlier, spat at his blood-soaked body in disgust before kicking him into the nearly vertical passage with a drop of over five hundred meters.
"Whew... That feels better..."
Reversing the ley lines was naturally no easy task for Rin.
It was even more difficult when she had to use the reversed ley lines to rapidly release the mana within the Great Holy Grail.
Therefore, Rin had no idea how much mana had been released during the reversal, nor how much mana was currently flowing beneath the ground.
"Rin, hold on. It's Dad's order, and Sakura's hope too... Rin, you have to hold on."
But in any case, for Rin, it was as simple as one word: release.
As Rin stood in the center of the Matou Residence's garden, her little face flushed red as she used all her strength to resist the backlash from the ley lines.
Sakura finally returned home, exhausted from the journey.
"That's enough, Sister... It's already enough for ten years. The Holy Grail War has entered its final countdown. You can stop now!"
"Ah, I can stop?"
"Mm, you can."
Rin stopped controlling the Magic Circle, then stopped casting. Her legs gave out, and she sat down on the garden grass.
"Finally done... Sakura, was I amazing?"
"Mm, super amazing. Just what I'd expect from Sister Rin!"
"Hehe, not super amazing or anything. Maybe... just amazing?"
Sakura wrapped Rin, who was sitting on the ground, in a hug and pressed her cheek against Rin's, nodding without hesitation.
"Anyway, Sister, you're amazing!"
Kischur Zelretch and Animsphere
In the frigid early winter of 1994, as the Pseudo-Holy Grail was finally completed, this Holy Grail War personally planned by Sakura naturally entered its final countdown according to schedule.
And as the countdown drew closer and closer to the beginning of the Holy Grail War.
Sakura's daily life gradually began to grow busier.
Of course, Sakura was not busy because of this Holy Grail War.
Because from the very beginning, the outcome of this Holy Grail War had already been decided.
Matou Grand Hotel.
This hotel, once named after Fuyuki City, had naturally changed hands several months ago after the Matou Family poured a vast amount of money back into the small town of Fuyuki City. With a wave of Sakura's little hand, it became a Matou Family property.
At the same time, with the influx of funds, the aging hotel underwent a complete renovation, becoming even more luxurious than before.
But even with such extravagant spending, it still could not satisfy the "distinguished guests" currently staying there.
Inside the top-floor suite of the Matou Grand Hotel.
One of the two magi invited to participate in this Holy Grail War was displaying considerable dissatisfaction.
"What dreadful taste. Surely the head of the Matou Family does not intend to have the two of us stay in such a terrible place throughout this magecraft competition?"
His meticulously groomed blond hair, the clothing buttoned perfectly to the last button, and his exceptionally proper aristocratic posture... all showed that this magus complaining about the accommodations seemed to have nearly harsh standards for etiquette.
Compared to him, the silver-haired magus sitting opposite him, with a baby face and a gentle smile that never left his features, appeared far more amiable.
"Kischur Zelretch, for a place like the Far East, these conditions are already quite good."
"Mr. Animsphere, you are too forgiving. But the taste of country magi... I suppose I shall reluctantly accept it this time."
Perhaps out of consideration for the man Kischur Zelretch called Mr. Animsphere, or perhaps because Kischur Zelretch felt he truly ought to be more tolerant of country folk, he ultimately stopped complaining.
But stopping his complaints did not mean Kischur Zelretch wore a pleasant expression.
Especially since the host who had invited them had yet to show herself.
He looked up at the crystal clock hanging on the wall.
As time passed, impatience began to appear on Kischur Zelretch's proud face.
"Can the person who invited us to this country affair not even keep time properly...?"
"There are still five minutes until the appointed time, Kischur Zelretch. Show some tolerance. Besides, according to my investigation, this Holy Grail War we are participating in appears to be quite interesting."
If anyone else had said that, Kischur Zelretch would most likely have responded with disdain.
After all, Japan, an extremely remote region in the eyes of the magecraft world, was the countryside of the magecraft world. And this "magecraft competition" even bore the name of something as commonplace as the Holy Grail.
But... if even Animsphere thought this would be interesting, then things were completely different.
"Oh? Do you have any special information, Mr. Animsphere?"
"Mm. My earlier investigation yielded a small discovery. According to what I found, this Holy Grail War held in Fuyuki City was supposedly created hundreds of years ago by the Einzbern together with two other magecraft families."
"Einzbern... those people... Mr. Animsphere, surely you are not suggesting that magic may be hidden in this backwater?"
"I do not know about that. My investigation only reached this point."
Just as Kischur Zelretch wanted to further discuss this possibility with Animsphere.
A crisp knock suddenly interrupted their conversation.
When the door opened from outside, Kischur Zelretch, who already disliked the host, naturally looked toward the opened suite door with anger brewing in his eyes after being interrupted by the knock and the door opening.
However, when he saw the figure who entered, Kischur Zelretch froze.
"Good day, Lord Kischur Zelretch El-Melloi Archibald, Lord Marisbury Animsphere. I am the one who invited you... Sakura Matou, head of the Matou Family, one of the Three Founding Families of the Holy Grail War."
"Hah, what kind of tasteless joke is this... A little girl!"
Completely ignoring Kischur Zelretch's gaze, Sakura walked leisurely to the sofa on his left and sat down. It seemed that from the moment she entered, she had ignored Kischur Zelretch entirely, keeping her eyes fixed on Marisbury Animsphere.
Sakura's disregard for him undoubtedly worsened Kischur Zelretch's already foul mood.
If not for his long career as a lecturer and professor, which at least kept him from taking the initiative to attack a child, Kischur Zelretch would likely have flown into a rage and attacked someone else in her place.
But even if he would not take the initiative to attack Sakura, Kischur Zelretch, whose mood had reached its absolute limit, still erupted in fury.
"Are you ignoring me? Bring out your family's true head. I, Kischur Zelretch, challenge him to a duel!"
At last, amid Kischur Zelretch's roar, Sakura shifted her gaze away from Marisbury, the man who, at this stage, could bring her the greatest danger.
"My apologies, Lord Kischur Zelretch. I was discourteous... But you are being very discourteous now as well... Since when has age, rather than talent, become the obstacle to becoming a family head in the magecraft world?"
Just as Sakura said, although the world of magi looked glamorous on the surface, with most magi behaving like refined and impeccably mannered aristocrats.
In reality, the world of magi was a world where the strong devoured the weak. Within the rules, as long as you were strong enough and could turn that strength into real power in all its forms, you could obtain almost everything you wanted.
At heart, magi were merely monsters wearing the skin of civilization.
Therefore, Sakura's claim that talent determined the family head was absolutely the most correct statement in the magecraft world.
"You are serious?"
"Of course. Although I have not yet inherited the family crest, my status as head of the Matou Family is beyond question... Lord Kischur Zelretch."
"Hahahaha! Interesting, interesting, truly fascinating! Mr. Animsphere, I believe I am beginning to look forward to this Holy Grail War..."
As he watched Kischur Zelretch laugh loudly and look at Sakura with cruel, excited eyes, Marisbury merely nodded slightly and did not respond to Kischur Zelretch's words.
"Then, little brat who claims to possess talent, will you personally participate in this Holy Grail War and demonstrate that talent?"
Masters Gather...
"Then, little brat who claims to possess talent, will you personally participate in this Holy Grail War and demonstrate that talent?"
Sakura gently shook her head, pouring cold water over Kischur Zelretch.
"Lord Kischur Zelretch, talent also requires time to bear fruit. As I am now, I am simply too young for this Holy Grail War..."
"Hmph... So you are merely all talk, little brat."
"My apologies for disappointing you. But rest assured, in this Holy Grail War, I can guarantee you will encounter opponents worthy enough to bring you achievements."
Before Kischur Zelretch could respond.
Sakura's Magic Wand shot out of her sleeve like lightning. With a casual wave, several dossiers on the participants that she had prepared beforehand appeared directly on the coffee table before the three of them.
Although he did not think highly of Sakura, her spell still made Kischur Zelretch's eyes light up.
"Not bad magecraft. If it were a little more refined, I believe I would be willing to publish a paper on this magecraft for you and help you apply for a patent!"
He was proud and conceited, impulsive and short-tempered, but Kischur Zelretch was absolutely one of the rare magi who were "pure" and upright.
He never spared cruelty for his enemies, but toward those worthy of praise, Kischur Zelretch would never hesitate to praise them either, even if he disliked them.
"Thank you for the compliment... Then, my lords, would you like me to explain the participants' information in detail?"
Before you continue