Shirou's Return from the Fae Kingdom

After a long time, a woman's mournful voice echoed from the summoning circle.

"Oh dear, I've messed up. I didn't expect to be unable to refuse the summoning, how forceful..."

Volume 1, Chapter 029: Flower Magus (1/6)

Late at night, Kirei Kotomine knocked on the door of the basement in the Tohsaka mansion.

This was Tokiomi Tohsaka's Workshop.

No matter how many times Kirei Kotomine entered this place, he would always be amazed by the various strange magical artifacts within.

His master, Tokiomi Tohsaka, was an outstanding Magus.

Although the Tohsaka Family had once been taken in as disciples by a True Magic User on a whim, it was undeniable that until the previous generation, the family line had been quite unremarkable.

The one who changed this status quo for the Tohsaka Family was Tokiomi Tohsaka himself.

In the late 20th century in Japan, he had firmly grasped key territories in Fuyuki City through various means.

In addition to this, Tokiomi Tohsaka had made numerous innovations in Magic, accumulating wealth by managing Magic patents, and even earning a prominent reputation at the center of the modern Magic world—the Clock Tower.

While far from being described as a prodigy, Tokiomi Tohsaka perfectly embodied the meaning of excellence and being an elite.

Possessing both an iron will and the pride of a superior being, he had decided on his life's goal from birth and strived for it his entire life.

He never wavered, nor did he ever stop moving forward; he was the complete opposite of Kirei Kotomine.

As for Kirei Kotomine, although he was Chosen by the Holy Grail, he remained lost and in pain.

The Command Spells on the back of his hand seemed unable to redeem his soul.

"What is it, Kirei, so late?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka, while reading the latest report from the island nation of the North Sea, spoke to his disciple.

"No one should have seen you enter this house, right? Because on the surface, we are now in an adversarial relationship."

"Please do not worry. There are no tangible or intangible familiars or magical artifacts monitoring this residence; I can assure you of that."

Kirei Kotomine and Tokiomi Tohsaka were both participants in the Holy Grail War.

Three years ago, Command Spells had appeared on Kirei Kotomine's right hand, but under his master's orders, he had carefully concealed this information, only announcing his participation in the Holy Grail War this month.

From that point on, his relationship with his master, Tokiomi Tohsaka, had fractured—

Of course, this was all an act for outsiders.

Kirei Kotomine was still subordinate to the Tohsaka faction, and his job was to secretly help his master obtain the Holy Grail.

Their faction even included a neutral supervisor for this Holy Grail War—Kirei Kotomine's father.

"I have something to report tonight."

Kirei Kotomine said expressionlessly, "I received new Servant intelligence from my father."

His father, Father Risei, possessed a magical artifact called the "Spiritron Dresser," which could display the attributes of Heroic Spirits summoned by the Holy Grail.

While the Master's identity could only be confirmed through self-reporting, as long as a Servant descended, the Tohsaka faction could use the "Spiritron Dresser" to track them, regardless of where they were summoned.

For example, Tokiomi Tohsaka was already aware that the Einzbern Family had violated the rules and summoned Saber a year early in distant Germany.

"According to my father's information, a new Servant descended tonight."

"Oh? The class?"

"That..."

Tokiomi Tohsaka was surprised to find that his disciple, known for his poker face, was showing a rare look of difficulty.

"The information on the new Servant is still unclear."

"What?"

Kirei Kotomine stated, "The 'Spiritron Dresser' can only confirm that a new Servant has descended, but it cannot confirm any of its class information."

Tokiomi Tohsaka frowned upon hearing this. "Is it malfunctioning?"

"No, the 'Spiritron Dresser' itself is not malfunctioning; it is operating perfectly fine."

"Then is there something wrong with the Servant who descended tonight?"

Kirei Kotomine nodded. "We cannot completely rule out that possibility."

Tokiomi Tohsaka fell into a brief silence.

Speaking of problematic Servants, he couldn't help but recall the Einzbern Family's stunt 60 years ago.

Those rigid homunculi had attempted to summon an evil god to participate, but their scheme backfired, and they were the first to be eliminated in the Third Holy Grail War, becoming a laughingstock.

Tokiomi Tohsaka smiled. "I understand. It's not a major issue. As long as it's not the Einzberns or old Zouken pulling strings behind the scenes, it's fine.

The Servant of Lord El-Melloi, the most threatening among the foreign Magus, has already been identified as Lancer.

At this point, even if one or two problematic Servants appear, it won't affect the overall situation.

Kirei, in this Holy Grail War, we will be the final victors."

"...You are right."

Kirei Kotomine knew his master possessed an arrogance beyond that of ordinary people, but wasn't this a bit too confident? He hadn't even summoned a Servant yet!

However, the man soon understood the reason for Tokiomi Tohsaka's overflowing confidence.

As if showing off, the Magus took out the relic he had just acquired from a drawer – a Serpent's Shed Skin from ancient times.

Great heroes of Greek mythology, the King of Knights of Britain, and so on... there might be many Servants who could be called "the strongest Heroic Spirits."

But there was only one Servant who could be called a "Heroic Spirit Killer."

Late at night, the warehouse was shrouded in silence.

Bright moonlight streamed through the ceiling, completely enveloping the two people in the warehouse.

On one side stood the young Master, Command Spells appearing on his hand – he was standing.

On the other side was a female Servant who appeared in the summoning circle – she was sitting.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

The silver-haired woman rubbed her backside on the ground, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, muttering, "Oh dear, I messed up. I didn't expect to be unable to refuse the summons, they're really forceful."

Shirou stared blankly, his eyes fixed on the Servant in the summoning circle.

Her wavy, long hair shimmered with a dreamlike iridescence under the moonlight, its luster almost surpassing that of any Fae in Britain.

Her exquisite, flawless face could no longer be simply described as beautiful; it was an abnormal beauty, making Shirou doubt if he was in a dream.

The woman wore a pure white outfit that undoubtedly symbolized her identity as a Magus, perfectly complementing her slender, shapely figure. Her snow-white, alluring legs were encased in black stockings.

And then, the most important point.

Although this was a warehouse filled with rust, upon her appearance – colorful flowers inexplicably bloomed all around.

Shirou snapped out of his daze and stiffly opened his mouth.

"Excuse me, are you my Servant?"

According to Makiri's explanation, as one of the Master's privileges, they should be able to immediately see the Servant's six stats upon successful summoning.

But strangely, Shirou couldn't read the other party's abilities. Not only her abilities, but he couldn't even see her class.

"Mmm... While I'd love to say no, that definitely won't work, will it..."

The Servant, suspected to be Caster, patted the dust off her backside and stood up as if no one else was there, taking a deep breath.

Then, she crouched down in front of Shirou, flashing a full-on, professional smile.

"Nice to meet you, my cute little Master."

Shirou: "..."

Why?

Shirou felt a sense of familiarity emanating from her.

Volume 1, Chapter 030: Self-Proclaimed Sage Merlin's Sister (2/6)

Leaving the cold, dark warehouse, they returned to the warm, bright living room.

Taiga Fujimura had already gone to sleep. The spacious room was now occupied only by Shirou and the mysterious silver-haired beauty.

"Heh heh, so this is where Master lives..."

The unknown Servant knelt on the tatami, excitedly looking around with her beautiful, gem-like eyes.

"Your tea is ready."

Shirou entered the living room, placed a cup of steaming green tea in front of the mysterious woman, and then returned to his seat.

"This is delicious."

The mysterious woman took a sip of the hot tea, then flashed a smile that could mesmerize any being in the world.

"Hehehe, thanks to Master, I've calmed down a bit.

But I was surprised too, I didn't expect to be summoned by such a cute little boy~

Big sis is full of energy right now~ Can you tell me your name?"

"Shirou."

"Shirou... can I call you Shirou-kun?"

Shirou's response was lukewarm: "Just keep calling me Master."

The silver-haired beauty placed a finger to her lips and said with a smile, "It seems I haven't earned my Master's trust."

Shirou remained noncommittal: "I'm sorry, but could you also tell me your true name?

It's embarrassing to say, but I still can't confirm your class or stats even now."

Generally, when a Master and Servant meet face-to-face, they should be able to obtain a certain amount of information.

Data like Strength or Endurance levels, as well as unique skills and other details.

A Master must consider the Servant's abilities and status to devise strategies and countermeasures for the battle.

However, Shirou could see nothing at all.

Even though her status panel appeared in his mind, both her six base stats and her unique skills were shrouded in mist.

Furthermore, not only was his authority as a Master rendered ineffective, but his "Boundless Mage's Eye" also failed to function.

This was the first time something like this had happened; Shirou was unable to glean any useful information from her.

The red-haired youth's gaze swept over the mysterious woman's long, beautiful legs, slender waist, and full breasts, finally settling on her exquisite face.

"Would it be more appropriate to call you Caster, big sister?"

The mysterious woman replied with a gentle smile, "My class is not Caster, nor is it any of the Seven Knights. You could say... hmm, Extra would be more fitting."

Extra... an additional class?

Shirou was stunned: "Hey! Zouken! I never heard anything about this!"

Saber, a monstrous entity with powerful magic resistance.

Lancer, a warrior known for agility and tenacity.

Archer, skilled in long-range combat and Noble Phantasm battles.

Shirou had spent days cramming knowledge about the Seven Knights.

After studying for so long, you're telling me there's an Extra class too!?

"What are the characteristics of the Extra class?" Shirou asked.

The mysterious woman replied, "Extra isn't a single type of class, but rather a general term corresponding to the Seven Knights. Do you understand?"