Crisis?

Fuyuki City, afternoon, Miyama Town shopping district.

Inside a fish shop called Fish Fresh House, Sasuke, wearing rubber boots and a waterproof apron, was helping a young housewife catch a fresh sea bream from a glass tank.

Maybe Sasuke had been selling fish for so long that he'd become an expert. He lowered the net and caught the sea bream with ease, without even making a splash.

His fish-cleaning skills were even more impressive. In less than a minute, he had finished preparing the sea bream.

If a customer asked, Sasuke could also fillet the fish or prepare it in some other way, depending on how they planned to cook it.

The housewife beside him wore an inscrutable expression. It was hard to tell whether she was captivated by Sasuke's impressive fishing skills.

Once Sasuke had wrapped up the prepared fish, he handed it to the young woman waiting for it.

The young woman accepted the package with both hands and smiled at Sasuke.

"Thank you, Uchiha."

"You're welcome. Please come again."

His words were pleasant enough, but Sasuke's expression remained flat as he spoke, without a hint of anything else.

After Sasuke saw off the oddly behaving woman, he had nearly sold all the fish for the day.

Once people got off work and school, the remaining live fish would probably be snapped up.

As Sasuke cleaned the fishmonger's counter, still stained with blood from his recent work, a hearty voice called from inside the shop.

"Sasuke, it's dangerous out at night lately. We'll close up soon."

An old man in his seventies or eighties sat at the counter inside the fish shop. His hair and beard were entirely white, but he looked to be in fine spirits as he leafed through a book.

This was the owner of Fish Fresh House, Sakura Masayoshi. His age had earned him considerable respect in the shopping district.

Kaoru described him as a rather stubborn old man.

Of course, she didn't mean that as an insult. Kaoru had always deeply respected her grandfather, and she had grown up to be an upright person herself.

"I heard quite a few people have been attacked at night."

Sasuke hadn't been ignoring the news. Quite a few people had recently been attacked or suddenly fallen into a deep sleep.

Under normal circumstances, Sasuke might have thought it was just a coincidence.

But after learning about the Holy Grail War yesterday, he knew there was more to it. It was probably the work of those Mages and Servants.

Sasuke turned to Sakura Masayoshi and replied,

"Yeah, but I have something to take care of later."

"If Kaoru wakes up, please let her know."

Kaoru had gone to bed early after they returned yesterday. She'd woken up around noon today, eaten lunch, and gone back to sleep. If nothing serious had happened, Sasuke would have wanted Rin Tohsaka to come and check on her again.

As for Sakura Masayoshi, Sasuke had told him that Kaoru had been under too much pressure from her studies lately.

After all, Kaoru was one of the top students in her class, so the old man had no reason to doubt him. He would probably just tell her to rest at home for a few days.

Sakura Masayoshi, who had been reading, lifted his bright eyes toward Sasuke. Then he looked back down at the page. After a long silence, he said calmly,

"Be careful. Come back early."

Sasuke's expression flickered with surprise, but he nodded.

"I will."

Sasuke acted no differently from usual, but he could tell the old man's words carried a deeper meaning. It was obvious that he'd noticed something unusual about Sasuke.

After all, Sakura Masayoshi was an old fisherman who had weathered many storms. He was far more perceptive than most people.

Sakura Masayoshi knew little about Sasuke's past.

Sasuke had never told him about it, only saying that he came from a rural village and had no family left.

But when he first met Sasuke, Sakura Masayoshi hadn't really believed that story.

The only reason he had let Sasuke stay at Fish Fresh House was that he could tell Sasuke wasn't a bad person.

In Sasuke, Sakura Masayoshi could see sorrow, loneliness, and a tenderness hidden away.

And that was exactly right. Over the years that Sakura Masayoshi and his granddaughter had lived with Sasuke, Sasuke had kept a straight face most of the time, but he had been beyond reproach in the way he treated both Sakura Masayoshi and Kaoru.

Besides, the way Sasuke and Kaoru got along like real siblings said everything about his character.

All things considered, Sakura Masayoshi cared deeply for Sasuke. Now that he was getting on in years, he had even started thinking about handing Fish Fresh House over to Sasuke completely.

Just as the atmosphere grew a little awkward, Sasuke received a message from Rin Tohsaka.

[The students are almost all gone. You can come now.]

Sasuke took off his rubber boots and waterproof apron, changed into sneakers, and put on a gray jacket.

"I'm heading out."

Sakura Masayoshi didn't say anything more. He simply nodded his approval.

Sasuke got on the shop's bicycle and headed for Homurahara Academy.

The school's ban on club activities was still in effect because of the earlier incident.

By the time Sasuke reached the school gates, all the teachers and students had left.

Sasuke sensed someone watching him. He looked up in the direction of the feeling and saw Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya on the school rooftop.

It didn't take Sasuke long to join them on the rooftop.

Perhaps because evening was drawing near, the air had turned much colder. A chilly wind swept across the rooftop, where all was quiet.

Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya were standing beside a wall inscribed with a Magecraft formula.

The formula resembled a small magic circle. Its blood-red color made it look especially eerie.

The moment Sasuke entered, he activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, allowing him to clearly see the flow of magical energy in the blood-red formula.

Under Rin Tohsaka's Magecraft, the magical energy flowing through the formula had grown extremely faint.

"As you can see, a Mage has placed a barrier around the school. This is a curse mark."

"Before you arrived, Emiya and I had already removed most of the curse marks that were active."

"However, the barrier has already been set up, so all we've done is weaken its effect when it activates."

"But the fact that this person set up a barrier like this means they won't give up just because someone interferes."

"From what I can tell, that person will probably slip up tomorrow."

"Anyway, there should still be a few curse marks around the school. How about we split up?"

"With your Mystic Eyes, you should be able to find and remove them easily."

Sasuke had no objections. After agreeing on their routes with the two of them, he set off.

But Sasuke had barely been separated from Rin Tohsaka and Shirou for a little while

when he ran into the so-called third Master.