Tohsaka Sakura's face was just as red; she lowered her head shyly, yet couldn't help sneaking glances at her sister and Rei Ao-nii.
Though Medusa wore the Mystic Eyes Killer, she seemed to sense everything that had just happened. She tilted her head slightly; a faint confusion flickered across her otherwise impassive face—or perhaps it was simple uncertainty about how to handle such a scene. Was she supposed to do that as well?
Rei Ao looked at Rin's flushed cheeks, then at shy Sakura, silent Medusa, and the two still-shocked goddesses, and couldn't help but chuckle. The smile, like a spring breeze skimming a lake, dispelled some of the awkwardness and tension.
"Looks like the summoning was a success," he said, not mentioning what had just occurred, as if it had been the smallest thing. "For now, get to know your Servants. Understanding one another and building trust is the foundation of fighting side by side."
He paused, letting his gaze pass over Ishtar, Ereshkigal, and Medusa. "Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Medusa—please look after the sisters for the time being."
With a nod to everyone, his figure slowly faded into the air of the Tohsaka living room.
"He… he just left like that?" Ishtar still hadn't caught up, her feelings a tangle as she sensed the very real, immense mana Rei Ao had bestowed on her.
"Hmph. At least he has some skill," Ereshkigal said, unwilling to concede anything aloud, though the curiosity in her eyes only deepened.
Medusa, meanwhile, stepped silently to Sakura's side. Her tall silhouette conveyed a wordless sense of protection.
Rin-chan touched her still-warm lips. Staring at the spot where Rei Ao had vanished, her heart was a storm of emotions: shyness, gratitude, awe—and boundless longing for what lay ahead.
The manor's atmosphere turned subtly lively and delicate: two goddesses glaring at each other yet calling a truce for now because of their shared experience—and that unfathomable man; two bashful Master sisters; and a taciturn, dangerous Servant. Their preparations for the Holy Grail War began in that peculiar mood.
…
While the Tohsaka sisters and their very different Servants started learning to work together for the battles to come, far away in Germany, the Einzbern castle—shrouded in snow and ancient wards—received a visitor in search of power and miracles.
Wind howled, whipping up drifts. A man in a long black coat, his face weathered, his eyes as still as dead water yet hiding an almost fanatical flame, trod through the snow into the secluded magus fortress.
He was the "Magus Killer," Emiya Kiritsugu.
Inside, the castle was as cold as the world outside, heavy with medieval Gothic oppression. Guided by servants, Kiritsugu entered the parlor and met the eighth head of the Einzbern family, Jubstacheit von Einzbern (Ahad). The old man's hair and beard were white; his face was puppet-stiff; his gaze held no human emotion—only a centuries-long obsession with one goal.
"Emiya Kiritsugu," Ahad's voice grated like rubbing ice. "You claim you have the qualification to enter the Holy Grail War."
"That's right." Kiritsugu showed the Command Seals on the back of his hand, gained by chance.
After scrutinizing them, Ahad looked away. "The Seals are genuine. Tell me—what do you seek from the Grail?"
Kiritsugu raised his head. His timeworn eyes met Ahad's without flinching. He spoke slowly, voice low and hoarse, yet carrying an unmistakable resolve. "World peace."
Four simple words, and the cold parlor seemed to grow quieter still. A flicker—something like the faintest absurdity—passed through Ahad's placid eyes.
"World peace—through a ritual soaked in killing and conflict?" There was a trace of irony in his tone.
"Exactly," Kiritsugu said, firm. "Because ordinary means can't achieve it, we need a miracle. The Grail is an omnipotent cauldron; it grants the victor's wish. If I win the Grail, I will wish to eradicate all war and strife. For that, I will stop at nothing."
The cold ruthlessness in his words gave Ahad pause. To shoulder any sin for a grand goal so distant it borders on the unreal—there was, in that stance, an eerie kinship with the Einzbern family's centuries of obsession with restoring the Third Magic.
After a long moment, Ahad spoke. "The Einzbern aim to use the Holy Grail War to fulfill our millennia-long vow: to re-enact the 'Heaven's Cup'—the Third Magic. Yet repeated failures have proven our homunculi ill-suited to be Masters. We require an outsider—one truly skilled in combat and well acquainted with the magus world's cruelty."
He paused, his clouded gaze measuring Kiritsugu. "You, Emiya Kiritsugu—your history and your methods—fit our needs. We can provide support: catalysts to summon a powerful Servant, and the Einzbern family's accumulated knowledge and resources concerning the Grail War."
Kiritsugu felt a faint stir—precisely what he had come for. But Ahad's next words exceeded his expectations.
"However, cooperation requires a stronger bond," Ahad said, brooking no dissent. "A mere alignment of interests won't suffice. To ensure your objectives remain one with ours—and so that you truly represent the Einzbern family in battle—you must marry into our house."
"Marry?" Kiritsugu frowned. His life had long been filled with the ideals of justice and revenge; love between man and woman was a distant, unnecessary luxury.
"Yes." Ahad rose. "Come. I'll have you meet your fiancée."
~~~
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