Thus, the story branches off to the third party.
"Rin, are you sure we should keep following them? As it looks now, those three Servants are already acting like thieves in a den."
"Archer, shut up! Watch your words!"
At the highest point in Fuyuki, on the roof of a certain building, Rin Tohsaka and her Archer had been stationed here ever since school was let out.
Relying on Archer's Clairvoyance, they had seen most of the subsequent developments. For example, they saw Guinevere's appearance and this Assassin meeting and conversing with the Master and Servant of Caster who had appeared afterward.
"Rin, why can't I say they are acting like thieves in a den? After seeing that Caster's Master, you should know in your heart who is setting up the Life-Draining Barrier in the school, right?"
His short white hair fluttered in the wind. Archer's brow furrowed; he was finding this timeline increasingly incomprehensible, and he grew more doubtful by the moment about whether his wish could ever be fulfilled.
He had spoken of the three of them being "in the same nest of snakes and rats," but he knew Saber would become Shirou Emiya's Servant. When that happened, the group would swell to four, making the Holy Grail War exponentially harder to win.
"Rin, have you still not figured it out?"
Archer was lost in thought, and Rin remained silent. This led Archer to mistakenly assume that the Rin of this timeline was unexpectedly dim-witted.
He immediately paid the price for his assumption. Rin threw a punch backward, and Archer, taking the blow to his chest, gasped sharply.
Rin's fists were as heavy as ever.
She wore her school uniform, a black headband, and a short red coat. He couldn't recall where she'd gotten the coat in such a short time.
Oh, right. I bought it for her at a shop on the way here. After all, the roof of a hundred-meter-tall building is relatively cold.
"Archer, that purple-haired girl is my sister, and the one who's likely Caster's Master is a teacher at our school."
"So? Are you preparing to join that den of thieves?"
"No, I am Rin Tohsaka. I must fulfill the wish of the Tohsaka House, but... I am just going to take a look, to slightly confirm Sakura's safety. Ahem, anyway, they are walking away so conspicuously, perhaps the recently retreated Lancer will make a comeback."
"When you come down to it, you are just worried about your sister, aren't you? Because she is obviously entangled with that heretical Caster?"
"Archer, shut up!"
"Yes, yes, yes, my Little Master."
The words that needed to be said were temporarily all spoken. As Sakura and Emiya arrived at the outskirts and were about to step into the Emiya Residence, which was a Far East-style dojo.
Rin threw an arm around Archer's shoulder without hesitation, and directly exerted force to lift her upper body.
Then, the petite Rin was princess-carried by the "tall" Archer, and set off toward the Emiya Residence at the speed that should be possessed by Rank C Agility.
Having been summoned by Rin Tohsaka, Archer actually received a pretty good Master bonus, the issue with his poor basic stats was his own problem.
However, Archer's Noble Phantasms were quite powerful.
Meanwhile, inside the Emiya Residence, Guinevere had shamelessly followed them in. She used her disguised body to look high and low in the living room, acting completely overcurious.
"Assassin? That's Assassin, right? Are you Sakura's ally?"
"No, I am Sakura's mother. When you marry Sakura later, you should call me mother-in-law!"
"Huh? Stop telling nonsense!"
"Mother..."
It was a joke, but Shirou answered it with such certainty that Sakura, who was about to tell them to stop, fell into a state of wanting to draw circles in the corner of the wall before she could even finish her sentence.
But Sakura still forced herself to control her emotions and said, "Yes, someone like me, how could I even hope to marry Senpai."
Thump. Guinevere kicked Shirou Emiya's butt hard, causing him to stumble to Sakura's side while still dazed.
And because she was angry, Guinevere did not hold back much. If nothing went wrong, a blue and purple footprint would be left on Emiya's back until after the Holy Grail War.
But...
The Scabbard was still inside Emiya's body.
Guinevere had just confirmed this from the contact between her foot and his back, even through their clothes and shoes, as the Scabbard inside Emiya had actively responded to her.
"Senpai, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, it's just that Assassin's kick hurt a lot. And it's not fading, it's actually getting worse."
Leaning on Sakura for support, Emiya wondered why other injuries would fade in pain so quickly, yet the wound caused by Assassin was different.
He didn't know that Guinevere had commanded the Scabbard to temporarily stop healing him.
"Sakura, I'm sorry about what I just said. What I actually meant was that I don't deserve you, and anyone who gets a woman as virtuous as you would be incredibly lucky."
"So, Senpai, does that mean you've just never thought about marrying me? Senpai, you've never liked me at all, have you?"
For some reason, Sakura unexpectedly spoke her heart. By the time she realized what she'd done, she hurriedly let go of Emiya and ran into the kitchen.
After Sakura fled, Emiya was even more stunned. Even he could sense, from her actions and words, that Sakura harbored feelings for him.
"I... I..."
"Emiya, aren't you going to go after Sakura and explain things clearly? After all, you're about to participate in a battlefield, and maybe you'll both end up dying."
In truth, Guinevere had used a Skill with a Charm effect on both Sakura and Shirou Emiya at this moment, making them both more inclined to follow their true feelings.
A few seconds later, after seeing Emiya grit his teeth, clench his fist, and finally chase after her into the kitchen, Guinevere sat cross-legged beside Medusa, who was already drinking tea by the kotatsu.
"Just now, Master asked me to ask you if you used some kind of Magecraft on her, didn't you? Master does understand a bit of Magecraft, after all."
"Then tell her, no need to thank me, helping my daughter's love life is a duty I have as her Mother. Oh, right, also help me apologize to Sakura. I was in a bit of a hurry, and I shouldn't have made this kind of joke right now."
"Sakura said, thank you, but she won't accept Shirou. Shirou already has someone he likes."
"Tch..."
Guinevere naturally understood that Sakura's refusal to accept him was due to her psychological problems, but this was something she couldn't help her with.
Guinevere had indeed been too impatient with her assist just now.
Thinking this, she stretched out her legs and let her upper body slump onto the kotatsu.
This kotatsu should have been put away long ago for this season.
"Hey, Rider, you seem to think highly of Sakura, right? If Sakura asked you to directly seek Mana replenishment from Emiya, would you do it?"
"Assassin, if you knew of my origins, you should know that such things in the world I lived in were as simple as eating rice. Besides, Shirou Emiya is a decent young man."
Lying on her side with her head propped up, Guinevere looked up at Medusa, who still wore her blindfold.
If she hadn't known this was what 'Anna' would look like having grown up normally, Guinevere could never have connected this woman who seemed to see through the ways of the world with the pure and adorable Anna from Absolute Demonic Front.
"Rider, I've actually seen you as a child in other Holy Grail Wars. You were super cute when you were little."
They chatted idly until Emiya emerged from the kitchen first, looking completely dazed.
A few minutes ago, he had instantly rejected Sakura. A few seconds ago, it seemed he was the one rejected by her.
Just after he came out, Sakura also emerged. She forced herself to maintain her usual gentleness and said:
"Senpai, let's go. We'll find a place, and I'll teach you how to summon a Servant."