The voice was soft, with a young girl's clear timbre, its ending rising slightly, as though even she was unsure whether her answer was formal enough.
Tokiomi Tohsaka froze for a moment when he heard those words.
An angel of wisdom.
A Cherub.
A high-ranking being placed second among Christianity's nine orders of angels.
Second only to the Seraph, serving at God's throne and guarding the gates of the Garden of Eden.
A sacred guardian described in the Bible, with four wings and four faces, its body covered in eyes.
The elegant composure Tokiomi Tohsaka had maintained for over a decade finally slipped.
The corners of his mouth lifted.
It was a tiny movement, but the smile came from the bottom of his heart.
Even Tokiomi Tohsaka himself did not suppress it.
He slowly turned toward the dark-haired young man standing ramrod straight behind him.
"We've won, Kirei."
Tokiomi Tohsaka's voice remained fairly steady, but something long suppressed had crept into his tone.
"This Holy Grail War-we've won."
Kirei Kotomine said nothing.
His expression remained blank, like a finished product fresh off a factory assembly line, without so much as an extraneous scratch.
But his lowered gaze left the back of Tokiomi Tohsaka's head, passed over his master's shoulder, and settled on the winged girl at the center of the magic circle.
Something stirred in those eyes.
Then it was gone.
Kirei?
Mayuri repeated the name in her mind.
Someone Tokiomi Tohsaka would address so directly by name: Kirei Kotomine.
The expressionless young man standing half a step behind Tokiomi Tohsaka, dressed in a black priest's cassock.
In that case, the man before her, who practically had "I'm important" written all over him, was definitely Tokiomi Tohsaka.
She had now been summoned in place of the person originally meant to be here.
Her memories of the Fourth Holy Grail War were hazy.
Like an anime she had watched long ago, she still remembered the characters' faces and names, but the plot had become a complete jumble.
Who won, who lost, who exited in which episode, who turned things around at the end.
All those crucial parts were gone.
Only something like a character encyclopedia remained.
Someone had probably tampered with them.
Whatever.
I'll put that troublesome stuff aside for now.
Leave it long enough, and maybe I'll forget about it.
Though Mayuri kept feeling that something like this probably would not be so easy to forget.
Meanwhile, among the feedback produced when her Spirit Origin had fully manifested just now, one piece of information stood out.
Something else had manifested alongside her.
It had not appeared in this underground workshop, but outside.
Somewhere very high up.
Above Fuyuki City.
A gigantic, round black object hovered in the night sky.
Intricate patterns covered its surface, and two pairs of steel-like white wings spread out to either side.
The wings' golden frames reflected a cold gleam in the darkness.
The Thunder Sanctuary.
Her Noble Phantasm as a Caster-class Servant, and one of the few armaments she could currently rely on.
The knowledge imparted by the Holy Grail contained pitifully little information about this Noble Phantasm.
An angel's innate spiritual armament, capable of attack, defense, detection, and air superiority, deeply bound to her Spirit Origin and controllable remotely.
Just those few lines.
It did not even explain clearly how to use it.
But she could slowly work those things out later.
There was something else she needed to do first.
One rule of conduct had been highlighted in the knowledge imparted by the Holy Grail.
After manifesting, a Servant needed to confirm the contractual relationship with their Master.
The magical energy connection through the Command Spells had already been established, but verbal confirmation was still part of the ritual.
Mayuri drew a breath and tried to put on a presentable expression.
The flush on her face had not completely faded.
She bowed slightly.
"May I ask, are you my Master?"
Tokiomi Tohsaka noticed that detail.
This angel was speaking respectfully.
Rather than the condescension often shown by higher beings toward humans, she was very polite, even somewhat reserved.
Together with that earlier display of blushing and staring blankly, which was difficult to judge.
Tokiomi Tohsaka felt a little more at ease.
An agreeable angel was always better than one who was difficult to please.
Maintaining a perfectly measured smile, he bowed again with proper aristocratic etiquette.
"Indeed, honored Cherub, angel of wisdom. I am Tokiomi Tohsaka, your current Master, as well as the current head of the Tohsaka Family, one of the Three Founding Families of the Fuyuki Holy Grail War."
His wording was assured.
He had stated his identity, made his position clear, shown every courtesy, and slipped in the title of the Three Founding Families while he was at it.
After so many years as a mage from a distinguished family, Tokiomi Tohsaka was thoroughly versed in this sort of phrasing.
Mayuri blinked.
Looking up from her current height of 154 centimeters, Tokiomi Tohsaka's roughly 180-centimeter stature certainly felt imposing.
Dark formal attire, a stern face, blue eyes, and that faultless self-introduction just now-he looked like a model example straight out of some textbook on mage lineages.
But that imposing presence did not last long.
After all, Mayuri's head housed the soul of a former male shut-in. She had seen far too many characters with powerful presences like this in anime, comics, and games, and had developed some immunity.
"Now that you are my Master, please just call me Caster, as any other ordinary Master and Servant would."
Mayuri's tone was steadier than before. At least she did not stumble over her words again.
"I will likewise address you as Master from now on."
Tokiomi Tohsaka's brow shifted.
This response fell outside his plans.
He had prepared several approaches to handle the possible attitudes of the angel he summoned.
Arrogance, indifference, judgment, loss of control, refusal to cooperate.
The one thing he had not considered was that she would ask of her own accord to use the normal forms of address between Master and Servant, all while speaking respectfully.
She was far too agreeable.
So agreeable that, for half a second, Tokiomi Tohsaka wondered whether he had misunderstood something.
Is she really a Cherub, an angel of wisdom ranked second among Christianity's nine orders of angels?
Could she be some good-tempered minor deity from Japanese folklore, stuffed into an angel's shell by the Holy Grail?
The thought lingered only briefly before Tokiomi Tohsaka suppressed it.
Spirit Origin data did not lie, nor could the magical energy feedback be faked.
The level of Mystery possessed by the being before him was genuinely angel-class, surpassing ordinary Servants.
She simply had a good personality.
She was an angel, after all.
It was only natural for her to be a little merciful.
"Very well. We shall address each other as you suggest from now on."
Tokiomi Tohsaka nodded, accepting the proposal.
At the same time, he mentally checked off the item marked "establish a relationship of trust with the Servant."
Their very first conversation had settled their forms of address and established the framework of their Master-Servant relationship.
She was friendly and willing to cooperate.
As openings to the Holy Grail War went, this was already very good.
"This is hardly the place for a formal conversation."
Tokiomi Tohsaka stepped half a pace aside and raised a hand toward the stone stairs behind the magic circle, which led to the upper floors of the mansion.
"Please follow me to the mansion's reception room, Caster. There are matters we need to discuss in detail."
Mayuri nodded and followed.
As she stepped out of the magic circle, her black high-heeled combat boots struck the stone floor with a crisp click.
The sound made Mayuri pause for an instant.
In her previous life, she had worn size 43 sneakers. In this life, she was walking in heels of who knew how many centimeters.
Relying on the physical capabilities of the Spirit Origin bestowed by the Holy Grail, she finally steadied herself and avoided falling flat in front of her Master.
That was close.
As she passed through the entrance to the stone staircase, she had to fold the two pairs of wings on her back inward a little.
The workshop's passage had not been designed for a four-meter wingspan.
Her wingtips brushed the stone wall, scraping off a few grains of rubble.
Tokiomi Tohsaka walked ahead, his back straight and his steps steady, without turning to check whether his Servant had followed.
That attitude of "I trust you to follow" could itself count as an expression of trust.
Of course, it could also simply mean that aristocratic arrogance had become a habit.
At a bend in the corridor leading to the mansion's upper floors, Risei Kotomine stopped.
The old priest turned and bowed to Tokiomi Tohsaka.
"Tokiomi, tonight's summoning ritual has been a complete success. You have my heartfelt congratulations."
His voice was aged and steady. When his gaze shifted from Tokiomi Tohsaka to Mayuri's face, it lingered for about a second.
Something complicated showed in those clouded old eyes, but a kindly smile soon concealed it.
"As for that holy relic, now that the ritual is complete, I will arrange for its return to Church headquarters tomorrow."
"As for what comes next, the two of you still have much to discuss as Master and Servant, so I will not intrude any further."
Kirei Kotomine also stopped behind his father.
He bowed to Tokiomi Tohsaka, his movement so precise it might have been measured with a ruler.
After straightening, Kirei glanced at Mayuri.
It was brief, less than half a second.
Yet Mayuri felt a slight chill down her back.
Probably just my imagination.
Tokiomi Tohsaka offered his old friend and disciple appropriately gracious thanks as they took their leave, and made a token attempt to persuade them to stay. Only after the two had departed down a side corridor did he turn and continue leading the way.
Only two sets of footsteps remained in the corridor.
One was steady and evenly paced.
The other was less practiced, occasionally pausing because of the high heels.
Tokiomi Tohsaka made no comment on this.
The dignity of the head of the Tohsaka Family showed itself clearly at times like these.
A Servant must not be made to feel embarrassed outside of combat.