The Blonde Girl

Perhaps if Kaoru Sakura had been allowed to attend school normally from the start, none of this would have happened.

Sasuke didn't want to meddle, but his "foolish" little sister cared so much about Illya.

So if Illya really wanted to learn more about Shirou Emiya, tonight might be the perfect opportunity.

After all, Illya, Shirou Emiya, and Rin Tohsaka now shared a common enemy.

That enemy was Caster and Assassin at Ryudou Temple.

Illya couldn't force her way into Ryudou Temple, and Caster was the biggest obstacle standing in her way.

Meanwhile, Shirou Emiya had teamed up with Rin Tohsaka. From what they'd just said, Sasuke guessed they wanted Shirou to help them deal with Caster.

Given the current situation, Illya and Shirou's group shared a common enemy.

As the saying went, the enemy of your enemy was your friend. Until they defeated Caster, they could get along.

So as long as Illya was willing to go with Sasuke to the Emiya Residence and didn't attack Shirou and the others, it would be a great opportunity.

Illya couldn't have been unaware of that, but she didn't answer. She simply stopped and gazed into the distance.

Seeing this, Sasuke stopped too.

The road back to the castle ran along the heights of Fuyuki, winding from the city into the forests on its outskirts. The terrain grew steadily higher.

From where they stood, they could look down over all of Fuyuki.

Night had brought a chill to the air, and Illya hated the feeling.

The Einzbern Family.

Along with the Tohsaka Family and the Matou Family, they were one of the Three Founding Families behind the Holy Grail War.

Illya knew her duty well.

As far as she knew, the Einzbern Family had lost the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki four times already.

And in the Fourth Holy Grail War, both of Illya's parents had taken part.

After losing three wars, the Einzbern Family had hired the Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, to serve as their Master and allowed him to join the family in an effort to regain their advantage.

Kiritsugu Emiya fell in love with Irisviel von Einzbern, and they married.

Their daughter was Illya.

From the moment Illya began to form in her mother's womb, she had undergone countless Magecraft procedures. Her body's composition had been entirely replaced with something even less human than her mother.

Illya could be called the culmination of the Einzbern Family's greatest achievements.

The Fourth Holy Grail War began in the eighth year after Illya's birth.

Kiritsugu Emiya took Irisviel to Fuyuki City to compete in the war, leaving young Illya behind with the Einzbern Family.

Before he left, Kiritsugu promised Illya that he would come back.

Illya waited at home for her parents to return, but in the end, the news she received was that her mother had died, her father had betrayed the family, and he had abandoned her to adopt another child elsewhere.

As time passed, Illya's longing for her father turned into hatred.

When she learned that her father was dead, Illya directed that hatred toward Shirou Emiya, her father's adopted son in Fuyuki City.

But when Illya came to Fuyuki and met the Shirou Emiya she'd heard so much about, her feelings grew complicated once more.

She didn't know whether she was angry or full of hate. All she knew was that her heart was in turmoil.

Rather than get caught up in this conflict and revenge, Illya preferred to stay at Fish Fresh House and play with the carefree Kaoru Sakura.

But Illya knew very well that she had no right to do that.

Illya felt that from the moment she was born, she had already lost the chance to live a normal life.

Illya, torn up inside, took a deep breath. A rare, bitter smile touched her face.

"Please tell Kaoru that I... had a good time today."

"Let's stop here."

"Berserker."

As she spoke, Berserker appeared beside Illya, having been in spirit form. A moment later, he leapt into the forest with her.

Illya had turned down Sasuke's suggestion, but Sasuke didn't want to say anything more about it.

Since nothing seemed to be happening with Illya, Sasuke took his phone from his gray coat pocket and checked his messages.

Shirou Emiya had sent him the address of his home by text.

Under cover of night, Sasuke quickly leapt toward his destination.

The Emiya Residence was in the northern residential district of Miyama Town, Fuyuki City. It wasn't very far for Sasuke, though it wasn't especially close either.

The mansion looked spacious, much like the headquarters of some yakuza organization.

That wasn't far from the truth. The property belonged to the Fujimura Group, a yakuza organization.

During the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kiritsugu Emiya had obtained the right to use the mansion from the Fujimura Group. After Kiritsugu's death, Shirou Emiya inherited it.

Since it was a magus's residence, it naturally had a barrier in place.

So someone soon came out to greet Sasuke, who was waiting at the gate.

It wasn't Shirou Emiya or Rin Tohsaka, but a girl in the uniform of Homurahara Academy.

She was strikingly beautiful, with purple hair and eyes. A red bow was tied into her lovely purple hair.

Sasuke recognized her as a girl in the same class as Kaoru Sakura. Her name was Sakura, if he remembered correctly.

He'd seen Sakura from a distance a few times when picking Kaoru up from school, but he'd never paid her much attention.

Now that they were face-to-face, Sasuke noticed something unusual about her.

From the moment they met, Sakura had made him feel that something was strange about her—or perhaps that there was something unsettling about her presence.

Even though Sakura wore a warm, healing smile.

"Are you Uchiha-san, the person my senpai mentioned?"

Sasuke nodded and answered expressionlessly.

"Emiya and Tohsaka asked me to come discuss something."

At that, Sakura nodded politely.

"Please follow me."

After entering the residence, Sasuke's gaze fell on the spacious courtyard and the separate buildings.

If Kaoru Sakura were here, she'd probably be envious. Fish Fresh House wasn't very large, and only the second floor was fit for living in.

It was cramped, to say the least.

The Sakura family had enough money to buy a house in Shinto or the residential district of Miyama Town, but Sakura Masayoshi, who controlled the family finances, wouldn't agree.

It was something Kaoru Sakura often complained and grumbled to Sasuke about.

So Kaoru Sakura dreamed of moving away from the shopping district when she got a job or went to college.

Sasuke, however, didn't care about things like that. As long as he could continue living a peaceful, uneventful life, he was content.

But it was clear that the string of events lately wasn't following his wishes.

Thinking this, Sasuke followed Sakura into the main house.

Through the entryway and into the living room, he saw Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka preparing dinner in the kitchen.

When Shirou Emiya saw Sasuke arrive, he greeted him first.

"Uchiha-san, if you haven't had dinner yet, why don't you join us?"

Sasuke nodded, but more than that, he was focused on the blonde girl sitting beside the dining table in the living room.

There was no doubt about it. She was a Servant.