Night fell.
Kirei Kotomine led Asagami Fujino into a small roadside eatery. The shop was empty except for the waiter and the chef. After ordering a portion of 'Devil' Mapo Tofu and a bowl of rice, he handed the menu to Asagami Fujino.
"What would you like to eat?"
Asagami Fujino stared intently at Kirei Kotomine, afraid the man would disappear. Ever since meeting and speaking with him earlier that evening, she had come to see Kirei Kotomine as her lifeline.
Asagami Fujino took the menu casually, not daring to let Kirei Kotomine out of her sight for even a second. While staring at him, she spoke to the waiter.
"The same as him!"
Hearing her answer, the waiter broke into a sweat and tried to dissuade her.
"Miss, this gentleman ordered the devilishly spicy Mapo Tofu. Are you sure you want the same?"
Asagami Fujino nodded and insisted.
"The same is fine."
Before long, the waiter brought the food. After placing it before Kirei Kotomine and Asagami Fujino, he pulled up a nearby stool and sat down to watch her, intending to intervene the moment she found it impossible to eat!
Asagami Fujino didn't even look at the lava-like Mapo Tofu in front of her, her gaze still fixed on Kirei Kotomine.
Kirei Kotomine took a bite of the Mapo Tofu and nodded with satisfaction. He then looked at the motionless Asagami Fujino and said,
"You should eat too. The flavor here is quite good, though it's still a bit inferior to Koshu Ensaikan Taishan."
Asagami Fujino nodded and began stuffing spoonfuls of Mapo Tofu into her mouth.
The waiter watched her in stunned silence. Compared to Kirei Kotomine, who had visited several times and always ordered the devilishly spicy Mapo Tofu, the waiter never imagined Asagami Fujino could also stomach such monstrous food. Since starting work at this restaurant, she was only the second person the waiter had seen finish this dish.
Of course, the waiter didn't know that Asagami Fujino had never felt the sensation of spiciness. Spiciness is a form of pain, and it had vanished from her life long ago due to her analgesia.
Kirei Kotomine nodded at Asagami Fujino with a smile, growing more satisfied with her the more he looked. The same hollow eyes, the same hollow heart, and the same ability to consume this treasure of the human world... 'Asagami Fujino, you truly are my treasure!'
After dinner, Asagami Fujino took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her brow, picked up her schoolbag, and followed Kirei Kotomine out of the restaurant.
Kirei Kotomine strode along the quiet street, occasionally glancing back at Asagami Fujino following silently behind him. He planned to take her to the local church for the night and seek a solution for her analgesia through his father the next day.
Kirei Kotomine suddenly stopped as Araya Souren emerged from an alley. His muscles tensed, ready for action. Now focused on'saving' Asagami Fujino, he was extremely annoyed by Araya Souren's reappearance. Frowning, he said in a low voice,
"Araya Souren, I've already delivered your message to Rin. What are you doing here now?"
"Kirei Kotomine, Asagami Fujino is my pawn. You cannot take her."
Hearing Araya Souren's words, Kirei Kotomine crouched low to the ground and instantly lunged behind him, throwing a vicious elbow strike toward Araya Souren's back.
Asagami Fujino stood frozen, unsure of what to do as she watched Kirei Kotomine fight Araya Souren. Suddenly, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
"So you're the one Kirei wants to save, even if it means neglecting his own daughter?"
Asagami Fujino turned around. Touko stood there with a cigarette dangling from her mouth and a hand on Fujino's shoulder, while the one who had just spoken was Rin, standing beside Touko.
Curious about the person Kirei would save over his own daughter, Rin had sent out familiars to follow him after he left. When night fell, her familiars discovered Araya Souren near Kirei. Suspecting Araya Souren was up to another scheme, Rin had hurriedly dragged Touko along.
When Asagami Fujino turned around, Rin's lip couldn't help but twitch. She certainly knew Asagami Fujino's famous name, but she never imagined Kirei Kotomine would end up involved with her. 'The wind fanned by my little butterfly wings is way too strong,' Rin thought to herself.
Meanwhile, Kirei Kotomine, who was fighting Araya Souren, also noticed Rin and Touko's arrival. He stepped back to disengage from Araya Souren and asked Rin,
"Rin, why are you here?"
"Oh, I detected that 'monk's' magical energy. Touko and I were nearby, so we came to take a look. I didn't expect to run into you. Alright, Kirei, leave the rest to me. I have a score to settle with this 'monk'."
With that, Rin pulled out a notepad with a jewel-encrusted cover—the shorthand codex she had created. Beside her, Touko pulled Asagami Fujino behind her.
Rin casually opened the shorthand codex and tore out a red page. The note transformed into a roaring flame in mid-air and surged toward Araya Souren.
"Fugu."
Seeing the flames blocked by a barrier, Rin calmly tore out three more notes of different colors: red for fire, yellow for earth, and green for wind.
The concrete ground converged into an irregular sphere floating in mid-air under the influence of magical energy. Flames burned fiercely on its surface, and powerful winds acted as propulsion to constantly accelerate this magical meteorite while fanning the flames even brighter.
Araya Souren watched the incoming meteorite. He calmly held a mudra, settled into a firm horse stance, and shouted,
"Fugu, Kongo, Jaketsu, Taiten, Chokei, Ogen!"
As a full six-fold barrier manifested, the meteorite was brought to a standstill. Before long, as the magical energy was exhausted, only a pile of charred concrete fell to the ground.
Rin shook her head at the intercepted magecraft and tucked the shorthand codex back into her small bag, unsatisfied.
Araya Souren watched the now-still Rin, not daring to let down his guard. Maintaining his barrier, he spoke to Touko.
"Touko, do you intend to interfere?"
"I have no such intention. Even if I did, you'd have to deal with Rin first. Don't underestimate her; she was just using you to test her Mystic Code. Look, it's about to begin."
Light, countless lights, ancient starlight... As Touko spoke, the light converged toward Rin. This was a brand-new magic, Starlight Form, created by Rin by combining Celestial Magic and Pseudo-Mythology Sorcery (which she had upgraded from Pseudo-Fairy Tale Sorcery by researching Servants, myths, and legends), capable of providing all-around enhancement.
As the starlight gathered, its brightness exceeded the limit of what the human eye could endure. Araya Souren couldn't help but close his eyes.
At that moment, Rin, having completed the magic, called out the incantation for the specialized attack spell of Starlight Form in a clear voice.
"Light Wing Deployment!"
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