If it was just one Master summoning him, Alvin would guess it was probably Tohsaka Rin.
If there were two… he might think Sajyou Manaka was one of them as well.
After all, after the last "return," Sajyou Manaka hadn't followed Alvin back to the Clock Tower, so she must have already gone back to her own era.
But with Manaka's personality, she would definitely try every possible way to meet him… and the only way to do that was obvious, Heroic Spirit summoning.
But now, seven Masters summoning the same person at the same time, 'How am I supposed to choose?'
'Should I just let them hold a meeting first and discuss how to split me up?'
Alvin let out a quiet sigh in his heart, then raised his hand and opened the CG achievement panel in his personal interface.
Soon, his gaze froze at the end of the achievement list.
There, a line of tiny text quietly appeared in his field of vision: [Battle of the Seven-Way Lovefield]
"..."
Alvin's pupils shrank sharply, his face going blank as he stared at this CG achievement notification.
'Wait, seriously… I was just joking. Why did you actually give me a "seven-way split" CG achievement?'
Originally, when entering the Holy Grail War, Alvin hadn't felt any concern at all. After all, in the last Holy Grail War, he could be considered the final winner. He had a certain level of confidence in his own strength.
But now… he was already starting to feel like backing out.
'This CG achievement, it's not going to slap me with a "Bad Ending," is it?'
But things had already reached this point. Backing out wasn't an option anymore.
Thinking this, he hesitated for a moment. In the end, he steeled himself and pressed the "Accept Summoning" option.
A blazing white light suddenly flared up, quickly swallowing Alvin's figure whole. In the end, the boy completely disappeared from the world of Avalon.
———
The air seemed to carry a faint scent of sandalwood, mixed with a subtle, pleasant fragrance unique to a young girl.
A slight winter chill spread around his body.
Faintly, he could sense a pair of eyes watching him. Alvin could even feel the other person's heartbeat gradually speeding up.
"It actually… it actually worked?"
Very quickly, an extremely excited and thrilled girl's voice came from beside his ear.
Seven Masters summoning the same Servant at the same time, a one-in-seven chance. Who exactly drew the White Dragon?
Alvin slowly opened his eyes.
What entered his view was a fresh and refined face.
Her long black hair was tied into twin tails that fell down behind her. A school uniform outlined the girl's graceful and beautiful figure, paired with those azure eyes. At this youthful age, it created a pure charm that ordinary girls couldn't match.
Below the skirt of her uniform were a pair of full, slender legs. Black thigh-high socks pressed lightly against her thighs, leaving faint marks and revealing the fair texture of her skin.
'This girl… looks kind of familiar.'
Alvin looked at the girl in front of him with slight confusion, while she stared back at him, her eyes sparkling. Her expression and excitement were practically like someone who had just pulled a five-star character in a single draw.
"Rin?"
The figure of the girl in front of him slowly overlapped with the little girl from the past. Alvin quickly realized something and said, "You're Rin?"
Hearing his answer, Tohsaka Rin's eyes filled with surprise, "You still remember me?"
Deep in her gaze was a joy she couldn't hide.
The half month she spent in the royal palace of ancient Britain, even now, whenever she thought about it, Rin felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.
For her, it was hard to ever have such beautiful memories again. That was why, when she had just performed the Heroic Spirit summoning, she had been extremely uneasy.
What if she failed to summon the White Dragon? What if the White Dragon she summoned didn't remember her… worries like that had lingered in her mind.
But fortunately, those worries seemed unnecessary. He still remembered her, even remembering everything that had happened back then.
And he looked almost unchanged from before.
Rin secretly sized up the black-haired boy in front of her, a strange look appearing in her eyes.
How could someone go through such a long passage of time, yet have their appearance remain completely unchanged?
It seemed the historical records were true, the White Dragon had drawn the sword from the stone in place of King Arthur, so his age had forever remained fixed in his youth.
Alvin naturally had no idea Rin was thinking such impolite things. His attention was quickly drawn to the black fragment of cloth in her hand.
"By the way, why didn't you use my relic to perform the summoning?"
Rin blinked, confused for a moment, "I did use your relic."
As she spoke, she took out the black cloth fragment in her hand and handed it to the boy.
The black fragment was covered in extremely intricate patterns, and it even seemed to carry the aura of the White Dragon.
Alvin frowned, "This isn't mine, the aura on it is fabricated."
The White Dragon had extremely sharp perception. When it came to his personal belongings, Alvin could tell authenticity at a glance.
Hearing such a firm answer, Rin's gaze flickered slightly. She rested one hand against her fair chin and said in a low voice, "You mean… my relic was swapped?"
"But if that's the case, how did I summon you?"
It wasn't that she doubted Alvin's judgment. It was just that she had always kept the White Dragon's relic on her person, and she hadn't had much contact with anyone. She believed no one could have swapped it without her noticing.
"There's a certain 'connection' between you and me. Maybe because of that… plus a bit of luck."
Alvin thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Then my luck must be incredibly good, even after the item was swapped, I still managed to summon the White Dragon."
Thinking this, Rin quickly covered her mouth and let out a soft laugh, "If the person who swapped it realizes they didn't summon the White Dragon, do you think they'd be furious?"
"I really want to see their expression."
"You're still as mischievous as ever," Alvin said helplessly.
Rin glared at him, almost blurting out, "That's just a little bit of payback. It doesn't count as being mischievous, does it?"
The moment she said it, she immediately covered her mouth and added in a low voice, "Sorry…"
At school, Rin was always seen as an "excellent student" by teachers and classmates, the kind of "other people's child" parents talked about.
But in reality, very few people truly understood her personality.
Because she was too good at pretending, even Rin herself hadn't expected that she would act so "out of character" in front of someone she hadn't seen for ten years.
"There's nothing to apologize for. Actually, this is better… if you kept acting all timid and reserved, I'd have a headache," Alvin smiled.
"I-I'm not timid, I just… it's a habit…"
Her mind felt like a mess. Rin stammered for a long time but couldn't get a full sentence out.
Before she could finish, she heard Alvin speak again in a gentle tone, "Then just act the way you're used to."
"Compared to a respectful attitude, I prefer your real reactions… like when you were a kid."
"Wha—"
Hearing that gentle tone, like a boy next door, Rin lowered her head shyly. A faint blush appeared on her clear and delicate face.
But she quickly realized something, gave a light cough, and composed herself, "Since no one's home right now, let's talk about business first."
"About the Masters participating in this Holy Grail War..."
As she spoke, Rin immediately explained the information she currently knew.
At present, there were only three confirmed parties participating in the Holy Grail War.
The Tohsaka family, the Matou family, and the Einzbern family.
The participants from the first two families were none other than the sisters, Tohsaka Rin and Matou Sakura.
As for the Einzbern family, it was said that their Master was from the previous Holy Grail War... Irisviel.
The reason it was only "said" was because after the last Holy Grail War ended, the Einzbern family had remained in a state of "isolation," and outsiders had no way of obtaining information about them.
After hearing this, Alvin fell into thought, "So, you and Sakura are in a 'cooperative' relationship?"
Rin gave a soft "mm," "The Matou family also prepared a special relic for Sakura, but she doesn't seem very satisfied with it."
At the end of her sentence, she looked at Alvin with a complicated expression.
"Sakura really wants to see you."
Over the past ten years, Matou Sakura's desire to see Alvin hadn't diminished in the slightest. Instead, it had only grown stronger.
And recently, Rin had also noticed her younger sister often looking distracted and absent-minded.
So when she successfully summoned the White Dragon, the first person she thought of was her sister.
"Sakura…"
Alvin couldn't help but recall that soft and timid little girl. He smiled, "Are you still living together now?"
Rin nodded lightly, then quickly shook her head, "Matou Kariya's health has been very poor these past two years, so he's been training her as the future head of the Matou family. She's mostly staying with the Matou family lately, only coming back occasionally for a day or two."
'Matou Kariya… looks like his body is nearing its limit,' Alvin thought to himself.
Back then, to participate in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Kariya's body had undergone partial modification by crest worms. Although he withdrew midway, irreversible damage had already been done.
The fact that he had managed to endure for so long in that broken body… was probably just so he could personally watch Sakura grow up safely.
Alvin smiled, "Then let's wait until Sakura comes back…"
His tone suddenly shifted as he looked at the girl with some confusion, "By the way, why didn't you go to school today? It doesn't seem like a holiday."
Rin's expression stiffened. Thinking back to the awkward scene earlier, she quickly coughed and awkwardly changed the subject. "That's… a long story. Oh right! The Holy Grail War officially starts tomorrow night. Do you have any plans?"
Alvin could tell at a glance that she was changing the subject, but he didn't expose it. He just shrugged, "You're the Master, so I'll follow your lead… but I think we should at least confirm the identities of the other Masters and Servants first."
More importantly, he was also curious, aside from Rin, who else had tried to summon him just now?
Rin nodded thoughtfully, "Then let's wait for Sakura to come back first."
Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring!
At that moment, the phone in the living room suddenly rang, breaking the atmosphere of their conversation.
The two exchanged a glance. Rin quickly got up and walked to the living room, picking up the phone.
Alvin moved closer and listened quietly from the side.
At that moment, a voice filled with tears and helplessness came through the phone, reaching both of their ears.
["Sister… s-save me!"]
Boom!
It was like a thunderclap exploding in her mind. Rin's pupils shrank sharply as she said urgently, "Sakura, what happened?"
But after those words, the call abruptly ended, leaving only the dull beeping sound echoing.
Rin's expression changed rapidly. She immediately hung up and rushed toward the entrance.
"Wait a second… there might be something wrong with that call. Should we confirm it first?", Alvin called out to her.
"There's no way I'd mistake Sakura's voice, it's definitely her. I have to go check. Maybe something happened at school."
Rin glanced back at Alvin. After saying that, she hurriedly pushed open the door.
In that instant, wind and snow surged violently into the room. The biting cold made the girl instinctively wrap her arms around herself, her body trembling slightly.
In previous winters, there had never been such heavy snowfall. Yet this year, the snow was unbelievably intense.
But even so, she rushed out of the house without hesitation.
Alvin silently watched the girl rush out in a panic, then soon shook his head helplessly.
Although something about this felt off, he couldn't just leave Tohsaka Rin alone.
Thinking this, Alvin quietly followed her out of the house.
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