The "Siscon" Student Council President / Miyu and Sakura

"Please come again, President."

Watching Julian nearly slip and go flying as he jogged away, Ritsuka satisfactorily shut the Kyudo Club's doors and returned to the small table to enjoy some snacks.

Beside her, Shinji, who had witnessed Ritsuka torment the Student Council President from start to finish, showed wholehearted admiration for her ruthless methods and proactively offered up the snacks laid out on the table.

"As expected, only Senpai can pin down the Student Council President so precisely."

Sakura sighed softly, then handed Ritsuka a bottle of juice.

After running all the way back to the Student Council room and opening the empty door, Julian's face instantly lost all expression.

The cold-faced Student Council President sat down in his chair and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

The harder he tried to maintain the Student Council President's dignity, the more likely things were to go wrong. After all, this persona did not suit his personality in the first place. But until he found the Divine Child, he had to endure.

His gaze shifted slightly toward the corner. A curvaceous blonde woman with twin tails stood in the shadows, her blue eyes hollow and cold.

"Lord Julian."

"They still haven't found her. We must find the Divine Child as soon as possible and restart the ritual known as the Holy Grail War."

Julian leaned back in his chair, tilting his body slightly backward. His right hand covered his face while the index finger of his left hand tapped against his knee.

Peering through the gaps between his fingers, he looked up at the broken lightbulb. His eyes narrowed sharply, and the corner of his mouth curled into a sinister arc.

"Send Beatrice out. Tell her that if she can't find the Divine Child within a month, she can wait to be destroyed!"

Julian's expression was icy as he spoke words he would never act upon, words against his heart. He glanced sideways at Angelica as she bowed slightly, then returned to his Student Council President-like look of helpless gloom.

He did not have much time left...

The Siscon Student Council President

The Student Council room had become extremely quiet. With the curtains drawn, the room was pitch-black.

It was not yet time for class. The Student Council President, whose true name was Julian Enzō, remained alone in the Student Council room, enjoying a brief moment of peace.

Julian inadvertently clenched his fist, his expression exceedingly fierce. Black streams of mist coiled around him, and a humanoid figure appeared at his side.

If Ritsuka had been here, she would definitely have recognized the nature of that mist. The disaster that had nearly wiped out a town deep in Miyamachi several years ago looked exactly like this thing. That spine-chilling malice filled the room.

Time was running out. He had to speed things up and fulfill Enzō's long-cherished wish...

"Julian, are you in there?"

With a bang, the Student Council's door was kicked open. Julian's face immediately darkened. The uninvited guest had arrived!

Holding a form, the orange-red-haired girl barged in without a care, then stopped in front of the Student Council President, whose face radiated low pressure.

Ritsuka laughed without a shred of self-awareness. "Julian, hurry up and sign this form. I'm going to ask Taiga-sensei for additional funding."

Smack. The form was slapped onto the table beside him. Julian, seated sideways with his gloomy bangs covering his eyes, let out a heavy sigh and pressed a hand to his face.

"Get lost. I really don't want to see your face."

"Huh?"

After swiftly signing it, taking out the Student Council seal, stamping it, and tossing the form back to Ritsuka, Julian did not show the slightest bit of friendliness. His rare break was about to be completely wasted, and class was truly not far off.

His wonderful break was about to be drained dry by this woman!

"Don't say something so lonely. It makes me wonder if you don't have any friends."

"Cough... What business is it of yours?!"

Julian had been eating compressed biscuits for breakfast. He had just opened the package and taken a bite when Ritsuka's seemingly innocent remark choked him, making him grit his teeth.

He truly did not have many friends. As Hogwarts Academy's famous Student Council President and gloomy guy, his status made it easy to push others away.

Besides, making friends like children playing house held no meaning for him. His time was precious, because there was not much time left that belonged to "Julian"...

"Emiya Ritsuka, hurry to class and get ready for lessons."

Picking up his cup and washing down the biscuit stuck in his throat, Julian stood and tossed the compressed biscuit wrapper into the trash.

When he turned around, Julian's face fell. The girl who had barged into the Student Council room had casually sat down in a chair and taken out a biscuit stick to munch on.

She clearly had not taken his words to heart.

"By the way, Julian, you don't have any friends, do you? I wouldn't mind getting along with you."

Holding a Pocky stick and lightly waving it in front of herself, Ritsuka said something that made the cowlick on Julian's head twitch.

With a dark face and an expression of utter disgust, Julian began packing up the desk and his textbooks, looking as if he would leave if she refused to.

"Could it be that Julian isn't popular at home either? That's unexpectedly rough."

"Don't say something so disgusting. My family is all great, and my little sister is very well-behaved..."

Julian stuffed everything into his bag in one go. As he lifted it and looked up, his expression suddenly froze. Ritsuka, her eyes sparkling, had already moved close to him.

"Oh, so Julian has a little sister too. Don't tell me you're a siscon?"

"Huh?! You have no right to say that about me!!"

As though she had struck a sore spot, Ritsuka watched the President nearly jump up in front of her. The corner of her mouth rose slightly. She felt as though she had learned something incredible, and Julian's heart sank when he saw her expression.

As for his rebuttal, it had been completely instinctive. He had heard that Emiya Ritsuka had a younger sister she was very close to.

Apparently, Emiya Ritsuka's adorable little sister would occasionally run to the Kyudo Club after school to find her older sister.

Though he had never met Emiya Ritsuka's little sister...

Ritsuka considered herself a siscon, so she did not deny it at all. What was there to be embarrassed about? Wasn't it only natural to treat your little sister well?

Waving a hand, Ritsuka took the lead in stepping out of the Student Council room and headed into the corridor without looking back—

"Yeah, yeah, President, you're not a siscon. I am, okay? Well then, I'm off!"

"Hey!"

Ritsuka took off running, leaving Julian with no chance to stop her. Her unrestrained voice also caught the attention of many students in the corridor.

For a while, news that the Student Council President was a siscon spread wildly through the high school division.

Believing she had done a good deed by bringing the Student Council President closer to his fellow students, Ritsuka arrived at the classroom door with a mischievous smile on her face. Surely, it would not be difficult for the President, whose authority had been thoroughly swept away, to make close friends in the future.

Plan complete—√

In the classroom, Shinji was still sitting at his desk, flirting with his newly acquired girlfriend.

Entering through the back door, Ritsuka silently went around Shinji and arrived at the window seat in the very last row.

She had chosen this seat herself when she entered her second year. Being near the back made everything convenient, and being by the window meant that even if she zoned out during class, she could look at the scenery outside the window.

After putting away her lunchbox and taking out all the textbooks she would need that morning, Ritsuka put on a proper show of being prepared. Then she propped up her chin with one hand and began spacing out.

She had been in this world for more than fifteen years now, almost sixteen. Her birthday was drawing ever closer, and memories of her previous life had begun to gradually blur. Life had been so peaceful these past years that it almost felt unreal.

It was nothing like those overpowered webnovels she used to read in her spare time...

Clearly, I have something like this.

She opened her palm. The dice, whose uses she still had not managed to further uncover, lay in her hand like a bright, translucent crystal.

No one else could see it. Kiritsugu had believed in the existence of the Crystal Dice because he had seen Ritsuka's unbelievable, unnatural Projection Magic. Aside from Kiritsugu, however, Ritsuka had not told even Miyu about the Crystal Dice.

There was still no conclusion as to whether this thing was good or bad. It was better to wait and see.

Maybe it was a trap set by some great demon king named "Emiya Shirou (Archer)" to resurrect himself?

That kind of cliché felt strangely familiar.

"Emiya Shirou... Emiya... Could this guy have something to do with Kiritsugu?"

Kiritsugu was one of the people she respected from the bottom of her heart, aside from the ordinary parents who had carefully cared for her before she recovered her memories.

Because she had been too young, she did not actually remember much about those two.

Haaah~

Stretching lazily, Ritsuka straightened up and looked outside the window, her unfocused gaze drifting aimlessly.

Then, when she spotted a certain figure, her expression changed. Her hand clenched around the Crystal Dice, and her pupils trembled.

A tall figure with golden twin tails had blended into the crowd at the school gate. A flawless beautiful girl had not caused the slightest ripple among the crowd.

"Magic that interferes with sight?"

Miyu and Sakura

The day's simple lessons came to an end. After packing up in the classroom, Ritsuka picked up her schoolbag and walked out, ready to go home.

She did not go looking for the mysterious girl who had used magic.

She had also confirmed that Miyu was still attending classes safely over there, so nothing should have happened.

It was club time now. Due to Fuyuki City's own issues, the student population was low, and Hogwarts Academy's management of its students was quite relaxed. There were practically no strict club requirements, such as mandatory club activities.

Therefore, the Kyudo Club's activity time was uncertain. Whenever Ritsuka, Sakura, and Shinji were all present, they could start an activity.

Incidentally, Shinji was just an extra. It did not matter whether he was there or not.

They could eat snacks, chat, draw their bows and fire an arrow to relieve stress, and so on.

Incidentally, because their club advisor was Fujimura Taiga, their club's situation had become rather strange. Taiga had also pulled Miyu onto the club roster under the name of "future club member"...

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The moment she stepped out of the classroom, a purple-haired beautiful girl entered Ritsuka's field of vision. Sakura leaned against the wall with her head lowered, seemingly looking at something.

The corner of Ritsuka's mouth lifted. Seeing that Sakura had not noticed her, she quietly walked over.

"Yah!"

She reached out and poked the distracted Sakura. Seeing the maiden's flustered expression, Ritsuka could not help laughing out loud. After all, she had not undergone professional training, so she basically could not hold it in.

Puffing out her cheeks, Sakura looked at Ritsuka, who was laughing so hard her abs nearly tore, and made an indignant sound. "Mmph!"

"I'm sorry. By the way, what were you doing, Sakura?"

Using her most common tactic to change the subject, Ritsuka successfully diverted Sakura's attention as expected. Sakura's expression turned hesitant, and she seemed to want to speak but stopped herself.

"Senpai, um, Brother said he's bringing his girlfriend home. He told me to stay at your house for one night so I won't get in the way."

Sakura forced a smile, while Ritsuka covered her face. That guy Shinji was at it again.

As famous members of Hogwarts Academy's Kyudo Club, the campus had three well-known figures: the stunning school beauty Matou Sakura, the gentle and approachable Emiya Ritsuka... and the lazy scumbag Matou Shinji.

Sakura and Ritsuka were famous partly because of their looks and figures, but also because they handled people and situations exceptionally well. They had great reputations at the academy, and their relationship was so close that people could only exclaim, "The yuri energy is strong!"

Though it was a pity that they had supposedly gotten together themselves, the blossoming yuri also had countless boys completely hyped...

As for Shinji, people's strongest impression of him was his scumbag personality, along with the sight of Taiga grabbing him by the ear and scolding him over various issues all day long.

His family was rich, and his looks were genuinely not bad. Countless girls were willing to be "friends" with Shinji, while Shinji himself was famous for replacing them as soon as he got bored. Despite his young age, he spent all day lounging in bed and refusing to get up.

Both Sakura and Ritsuka knew what Shinji thought, because during a Kyudo Club activity, he had proudly declared that he was only physically interested in women—in short, "I crave girls' bodies" and "It's just a relationship for the body, not the heart."

Then, because of that scumbag remark, Shinji was dragged away by Taiga, who happened to be passing by.

And this was not the first time he had brought a new girlfriend home and considered his little sister a nuisance.

Ritsuka turned and walked outside, waving a hand carelessly. "Well, it's no big deal. I still haven't put away the bedding I prepared for Sakura last time. The only issue is that we'll need one more pair of chopsticks tonight."

"Sorry for troubling you, Senpai."

Little Sakura looked apologetic and bowed slightly to Ritsuka before hurriedly following after her.

After leaving the high school division's gates, the two headed toward the elementary school division where Miyu was. Miyu should be getting out of school soon, and they were going to pick her up together.

"Oh, right, Taiga-sensei is coming to mooch dinner at Senpai's house tonight too, right?"

"She comes basically every day, so tonight's dinner is for four. I'll need Sakura to give me a hand."

Fujimura Taiga was an English teacher in Hogwarts Academy's high school division, Ritsuka's nominal guardian, and someone like an older sister to her. She was completely hopeless at housework, an unmarried woman who freeloaded at Ritsuka's home every day.