"Oh! My Master! My partner! Ryuunosuke! You were cruelly murdered! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Hidden somewhere, Gilles de Rais raged. But the next moment his tone shifted. "Don't worry, I'll avenge you soon! It's just a pity… I was supposed to meet my saint, Jeanne d'Arc, first!"
At that moment, Tohsaka Rin was lying on a bench at the side of the street. Tia sat on a bench next to her, waiting for Rin to wake up. As for Waver and Alexander the Great, they stayed hidden in the shadows.
After a while, Rin slowly woke up, and in her daze, she saw a red-haired boy greeting her.
"You're awake," Tia said to her.
"Ah! Who… who are you?" Rin was only seven at the time. Seeing a stranger watching her wake up, she jumped in fright and quickly checked herself to make sure she was fine.
"Me? I'm your savior!" Tia said matter-of-factly.
"Savior?" Rin was now fully awake. "That's right! That crazy murderer! I was breaking his magic bracelet when a huge giant burst in and killed him! It wasn't you at all!"
She looked around. They were now on the streets of Fuyuki City, full of people. No giant. No murderer.
"Huh? Where is he? Why am I here?" Rin finally realized she wasn't in that place anymore. "Wait! Kotone!"
"Don't worry, the police already took them away. The killer's body too," Tia said calmly. "Anyway, you should go home now. This isn't a place you should be." She stood up, ready to leave.
"Wait! What's your name?" Rin asked quickly.
"My name… is Emiya Shirou!" Tia answered without thinking.
"Emiya Shirou, huh? I'll remember you, fake savior!" Rin said, then ran off on her own.
Soon after, Waver walked over.
"Tia, are you sure it's fine not to take her home?" he asked, worried.
"Relax, Rin's stronger than you, teacher," Tia grinned. "She's a genius who has all five elements. Even at her age, her magic power isn't any weaker than yours. In the future, she'll even become one of your most troublesome students!"
Waver's lips twitched. "You already give me enough headaches."
"Teacher, headaches aren't enough. Don't you get stomachaches too?" Tia suddenly asked, almost without thinking.
"Why would I get a stomachache?" Waver shot her a glare.
Tia pouted. Well, you'll find out in the future.
"Oh? A genius girl, huh? Tia, didn't you say she's the daughter of Gilgamesh's Master? Then that means she'll likely take part in the next Holy Grail War too," Alexander the Great said with interest. "I wonder if I'll get the chance to be summoned by her next time! Ahahaha!"
"What! Rider! Are you planning to betray me?" Waver spun around, looking at Alexander the Great with the pitiful face of a wronged little wife.
"Hahaha!" Alexander the Great burst out laughing.
Even Tia couldn't help but smile again.
"Actually… the King of Heroes' Master has another daughter," Tia said with a smirk, glancing toward the direction Rin had run off. "She was adopted by the Matou family, the Makiri family. Her name now is Matou Sakura."
"Oh? If you mention her, that must mean she's special, right?" Alexander the Great asked curiously.
"Adopted? For a magus family, adopting a child usually means…" Waver's expression instantly turned serious at Tia's words.
"Right, that girl Matou Sakura has a rare imaginary attribute. It's outside the five main elements. But if she had stayed in another magus family, she wouldn't have survived to adulthood. The Tohsaka family crest can only be passed to one person. The other is abandoned. That wastes a genius talent, and on top of that, the Mage's Association's Clock Tower would capture them under the name of a Sealing Designation, turning them into a specimen in formalin," Tia said. Her smile faded, turning cold. "And after Sakura was adopted by the Matou family, that old worm Zouken never taught her magecraft or gave her the family crest. Instead, he threw her into the worm pit, letting the insects invade her body day after day. His goal was to make Sakura into a container for the Holy Grail War. In the end, she was just another piece to be thrown away."
"What! A genius with such a rare attribute, treated like that by the head of the Matou family! What a waste of talent!" Waver shouted, furious again after hearing Tia's words.
But Alexander the Great just shook his head. "Kid, you're letting Tia drag you around again. Tia, you already planned to go save Sakura, didn't you?"
Tia nodded. "Yeah."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go! A talent like that must be taught by me personally!" Waver, strangely enough, already had the resolve of an overworked teacher.
Hearing that, Tia couldn't help but feel a spark of expectation.
What would Sakura be like if she grew up under Waver's guidance?
"Well~~ fine. But it'll have to be at night," Alexander the Great said. "That Gilles guy probably won't come out again. We don't need to attack the Einzbern castle. Tonight, we'll attack the Matou house instead! The Matous are one of the three great founding families of the Holy Grail War, so they definitely have a Servant. Whoever it is, we'll meet them head-on once we break in!"
"Sounds good. Without a Master, a Servant loses its source of mana. Even Gilles, as a magus, wouldn't be able to last. He won't dare waste his mana storming the Einzberns," Waver agreed.
"The Matou family are the Masters of Berserker Lancelot. And if Lancelot had been summoned as Saber, he could even fight against Gilgamesh without losing," Tia added. "If possible, we might even be able to take Lancelot. Kariya Matou only became a Master to save Sakura. If we rescue her, he might hand over the Command Seals willingly."
(End of The Chapter)