When she opened her eyes, a sea of raging flames stretched before her.
The fire spread across the entire mountainside, its towering blaze staining the already dim and murky sky a fiery orange-red, as breathtakingly beautiful as burning clouds at sunset.
Okita Souji came to her senses and looked around in confusion.
"What is this...?"
Her surroundings were completely engulfed in leaping, roaring flames.
She remembered being summoned just moments ago, defeating a troublesome modern magus, and then following her Master back to his home.
Though she had many questions, night had fallen, and her Master seemed exhausted, so she let him rest.
And then?
Then, she too closed her eyes to meditate... and when she opened them again, how had she ended up here?
Souji lifted her foot, intending to survey the area.
Crack!
A crisp, shattering sound reached her ears.
She looked down. Beneath her foot was a charred corpse.
It was impossible to tell how long the body had been burning. The flesh had completely carbonized, with no intact skin left—even the face was unrecognizable.
She glanced around. Scattered across the ground were more corpses, lying in small clusters.
Dozens of bodies, all blackened by the flames, their features obliterated. Among them were men and women, hunched-over elders, and children no older than seven or eight. A rough count put the number at over thirty.
Without exception, none showed any signs of life.
Judging by their appearances, they had all been burned alive, suffering unimaginable agony before death.
Tap!
Footsteps sounded ahead.
"...Traitor."
A figure staggered into view before Souji.
The person wore tattered armor, their body wrapped in bandages, their face obscured. Only their voice—hoarse and aged, like that of an ancient elder—could be heard.
Their eyes burned with hatred as they glared at Souji, as if they wanted to tear her limb from limb.
"You traitor! Our clan poured everything into you—knowledge, power, loyalty, even our Magic Crest! We gave you everything! And this—this is how you repay us?!"
The figure trembled as they pointed at the corpses littering the ground, roaring at Souji in fury.
"Ha! Hahaha!"
Suddenly, Okita Souji clutched her forehead and let out a mad, derisive laugh.
She quickly realized—no, this wasn't her. These were the actions of someone else, someone experiencing this event.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—!!"
"That's right! This is the result of your five years of raising me! Are you satisfied, you old fossil? Pity I can't see your face twisted in rage—it's killing the mood a little!"
The voice that spilled from her lips was evil, dripping with malice, like a demon crawling up from hell.
Souji could feel it—the person she was inhabiting was trembling with excitement, pure exhilaration surging from the depths of their heart.
This person was delighted by the massacre of this clan. They reveled in it, reveled in the carnage.
They took pleasure in death. Found joy in destruction.
Like a true demon.
***
Okita Souji opened her eyes.
What greeted her was a spacious traditional Japanese estate in the present day, the name Aozaki boldly written on the gate plaque.
This was her Master's home.
Last night, after leaving Mount Enzou, the two had hurried back to the Aozaki residence. Her Master had gone to rest, while she had leaped onto the roof to keep watch while meditating.
Somehow, she had ended up falling asleep.
Souji glanced at the sky. Though obscured by clouds, faint sunlight still seeped through—it was likely already sunrise.
"How strange. Servants aren't supposed to have the ability to sleep."
Souji rose from the eaves, careful not to wake anyone.
"Was it a side effect of being forcibly summoned by the Master through the Greater Grail? And that dream just now... was it truly a dream, or someone's actual past?"
She couldn't tell.
If it was just a dream, the sensations had been far too vivid.
"Saber, what are you doing up there?"
As she pondered, a voice called from below the roof.
Souji snapped back to reality and looked down at the front yard, where Roy had just stepped out of the house.
Despite the winter morning, the boy wore his usual simple T-shirt and overcoat, his white hair fluttering in the dawn breeze.
Roy looked up at her, his crimson eyes cold as winter.
"I was keeping watch! Making sure no one attacks us!"
The young swordswoman leaped down from the roof and bounded over to Roy, her signature ahoge swaying excitedly.
"Saber."
"Yes!"
"Until the Holy Grail War officially begins, you are not to materialize."
"...Huh?"
Souji's brain short-circuited for a second, but she quickly recovered.
"Master, is it because you don't want anyone to know you were the one who broke into the underground cavern last night?"
That made sense.
By now, Bazett had likely woken up and reported the previous night's events.
Though Roy's appearance hadn't been exposed, Okita had fought Bazett directly—her face had definitely been seen. If she appeared now, it would be tantamount to declaring Roy as the intruder, which would cause him significant trouble.
"That's only part of it."
Roy's expression remained impassive.
"The main reason is that I have another plan. This shouldn't be difficult for you."
"Understood."
Souji nodded, though she didn't fully grasp his meaning.
She wasn't sure what other plans her Master had, but not materializing wasn't a big deal. It was a shame she wouldn't get to explore this era properly, but it wasn't an unreasonable request.
After all, according to the Greater Grail, the Fifth Holy Grail War would begin in just a few days.
All she had to do was avoid exposure until then. Easy enough.
"Starting now, then."
Roy gave a slight nod and turned to head back inside.
Souji obediently agreed.
Just as she was about to dematerialize, she suddenly remembered the dream she'd just had.
The dream of a mountain engulfed in flames, of dozens of lives reduced to ash.
Masters and Servants were connected not just by mana and contracts, but by causality as well.
The knowledge imparted by the Greater Grail explained that as the bond between Master and Servant deepened, the Master might experience fragments of the Servant's past through dreams.
Servants, being spiritual bodies constructed from magical energy—fundamental particles of the magical world—had no need for sleep, nor the ability to dream.
They were already dead, after all. The moment their mana supply was cut off, they would vanish.
So, the dream she'd experienced must have been her Master's.
But was it just a dream, or...?
"Master..."
The words slipped out before she could stop herself.
"What is it?"
Roy turned back.
"...No, it's nothing."
Souji hesitated, then shook her head and vanished into spirit form.
Roy watched her disappear without another word, raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't press further. He headed toward the kitchen instead.
***
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