The sun had set.
Fuyuki City's third night began in the west.
Dusk crossed the mountain ridges and slowly settled over the city.
In the reception room of the Tohsaka Residence, Tokiomi Tohsaka was applying a wax seal to a ley line report.
Mayuri stood before the desk and waited for two seconds.
Seeing that her Master had no further instructions, she turned and left the reception room.
After returning to her guest room, she took three bags of potato chips, two chocolate bars, a packet of cookies, and a bag of jelly from the snacks arranged on the floor, then picked up the two-liter bottle of cola beside the drinks.
She held the plastic bag in her left hand and tucked the cola under her right arm.
Mayuri walked out through the front gates of the Tohsaka Residence. After making sure there were no ordinary people nearby, she lifted her feet off the ground and flew into the sky.
She rose to about fifty meters, turned, and headed toward the western side of Fuyuki City.
No wings appeared.
Her spirit Spirit Origin could fly on its own, without the aid of anything else.
Carrying her snacks and holding her cola, Mayuri flew through the night sky at around six hundred kilometers per hour.
Even if someone on the ground looked up and saw her, they would only see a shadow flashing past.
She covered the twenty-odd kilometers in less than three minutes.
Einzbern Castle stood in the mountain forests west of Miyama Town in Fuyuki City.
Once Mayuri spotted the forest from the air, she slowed down and descended to a spot about fifty meters outside its perimeter.
She went no farther.
A magecraft barrier surrounded the forest.
The barrier's magical energy felt cold and hard, and its formula differed from the Tohsaka Family's Jewel Magecraft.
It was something passed down by the Einzbern Family and had guarded this place for many years.
With the protection of her Astral Dress and the strength of her Spirit Origin, this barrier could not stop her.
But what she should say after entering was the problem.
Mayuri was not good at dealing with people.
Having her control Thunder Sanctuary in the air to fight Berserker was no problem.
She could also manage to maintain the bearing of a high-ranking angel when facing enemy Servants.
But asking her to walk up to Artoria and say something like, "Hello, I'm here for the banquet, not to fight. Please don't draw your sword," was something she really had little confidence in.
What if I don't explain clearly and Artoria fires a beam with Mana Burst right away?
The current King of Knights could unleash the power of an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm with even a casual swing of her sword.
Her Astral Dress could block it, but getting blasted in the face at their first meeting would not look very good.
So she would wait until the King of Conquerors arrived.
That man was better at talking to people than swinging a sword.
She could just let Iskandar explain the situation.
Mayuri found a rock beside a large tree and sat down. She set the cola by her feet, placed the plastic bag on her lap, and opened a bag of chips.
The night breeze blew from the forest, carrying the scent of earth and fallen leaves.
She ate her chips as she waited for the King of Conquerors.
About ten minutes later, a purple point of light appeared in the eastern sky.
A low rumble of thunder came from afar, and metal wheels rolled over the air with a piercing screech.
The point of light grew larger and larger as two black divine bulls pulled Gordius Wheel through the night sky toward her.
Purple lightning danced beneath their hooves, illuminating the nearby clouds.
As the chariot approached the forest, it descended and slowed.
Mayuri deactivated Presence Reduction.
As the fluctuations of her Spirit Origin spread out, Iskandar, standing aboard Gordius Wheel, turned toward the forest's edge.
His amber eyes found the pale-gold figure beside the tree.
Gordius Wheel landed thirty meters from Mayuri.
The thunder bulls trod over the grass, and the ground sounded beneath the weight of the wheels.
The King of Conquerors stood in the driver's position, still wearing the same clothes as during the day.
Dark blue trousers and a white Grand Strategy T-shirt.
The night breeze had tousled his short red hair.
"Little lady of the Tohsaka Family! How long have you been waiting here?"
His voice was so loud that all the birds in the nearby woods took flight.
"Why didn't you go straight in and greet Saber first?"
Mayuri folded over the opening of her half-eaten bag of chips and tucked it back into the plastic bag.
"I'm not very good at communicating. I was afraid Saber would draw her sword as soon as I went in, so I waited here for you to go in first."
Iskandar paused, then laughed twice.
"What does being good at it matter? Couldn't you just walk over and say, 'This king has come to attend the banquet'?"
Mayuri looked at him.
"I'm not a king. I can't say a line like that."
"True."
Iskandar nodded and did not pursue the matter.
He raised a hand and pointed toward the back of the chariot.
"Since we've met here, there's no need to worry about who goes first. Come, get on my chariot. Let's go in together!"
Mayuri picked up the plastic bag and cola and walked to the rear of Gordius Wheel.
There was an open platform at the back of the chariot, its floor covered with coarse cloth mats, with enough room for three or four people to stand.
She stepped onto the foothold on the side of the chariot and climbed aboard.
Someone was already inside.
Waver Velvet huddled at the very back, hugging his knees, his complexion still looking rather poor.
When he saw Mayuri climb aboard, he shifted farther into the corner.
Waver still clearly remembered the sight of Mayuri destroying Assassin in a single strike on the eve of the Holy Grail War.
Mayuri sat down opposite him and placed the plastic bag and cola by her feet.
Then she noticed the wooden barrel in the middle of the chariot.
The barrel was made of oak, bound with three iron hoops, and open at the top.
The aroma of wine drifted out, rich and sweet, quite unlike Japanese sake and more like grape wine.
A long-handled wooden ladle lay across the opening, already stained dark red by the wine.
This was probably the wine the King of Conquerors had prepared for the banquet.
Mayuri did not ask where it had come from.
She did not think the liquor shops in Fuyuki City sold anything like this, either.
Iskandar took hold of the reins and glanced back at the two passengers and the barrel. After making sure everyone was seated securely, he turned toward the forest ahead.
"Off we go."
"Wait, weren't you going to first-"
Waver had only just spoken when the reins snapped down.
The two thunder bulls charged forward.
Gordius Wheel accelerated straight from a standstill and rammed into the Einzberns' defensive barrier.
The barrier's magical energy began to waver upon contact with the lightning on the thunder bulls, then split open where the chariot struck.
Blue-white fragments of magical energy scattered to either side.
Beyond the barrier lay dense forest.
The thunder bulls smashed through the trees blocking their path, while the blades on either side of the chariot spun and sliced through the trunks.
Wood chips and leaves flew everywhere.
Purple lightning illuminated the path ahead.
Gordius Wheel carved a five-meter-wide passage through the forest, its bulls' hooves and wheels flattening the ground.
Waver slumped over the railing at the rear of the chariot, his stomach beginning to churn again.
Mayuri remained seated where she was, pinning down the snack bag with her left hand and holding the cola bottle steady with her right.
What worried her now was the cola.
With the chariot jolting this much, it would certainly be a hassle if it sprayed out when she opened it.
Forty seconds later, the trees ahead began to thin.
A clearing appeared at the edge of the forest.
Einzbern Castle stood on the far side of the clearing.