The Holy Grail War—or rather, the Great Deceiver War—is a ritual that condenses a massive amount of magical energy to create an 'Omnipotent Wish-Granting Machine,' deceiving Heroic Spirits who left 'regrets' in life to descend as clones and fight for it.
Church of Null.
Rin was currently focusing all her attention on researching how to use as little magical energy as possible to deceive a Servant into descending for the shabby Holy Grail War she and Touko were planning.
Indeed, it was shabby. It lacked the grand ceremonies and the frantic siphoning of magical energy from leylines found in other pseudo-Holy Grail Wars, and it didn't have the mature system or the support of the Third Magic like a legitimate Holy Grail War. All it had was a broken cup left over from the Fourth War and a few magi looking to trick a Servant.
Just as Rin had a flash of inspiration, that familiar feeling of being watched came from outside the window again. For some unknown reason, a large number of magi had openly arrived in Miyako City over the past few days, and they occasionally ran to the outside of Church of Null to peek inside. They couldn't be driven away or wiped out.
Rin irritably threw down her pen and went to the window in a huff. She pulled out a handful of gems, chanted a jewel spell, and then fired a succession of Jewel Magic Bullets at the floor of the opposite building where the spying was coming from.
Touko, who had received payment from Rin, had already sold the gems and squandered the money half a month ago. Now back in her shabby state, Touko trembled with heartache as she watched the spendthrift Rin.
"Rin, if you don't want them, give them to me! There's no need to waste so many gems just to hit a few magi of that level, right?"
Tohsaka Rin looked at the heavily damaged building across the street and nodded in satisfaction. Ignoring Touko's complaints, she returned to the desk, picked up the phone, and called Kirei Kotomine to handle the aftermath.
After finishing all that, Tohsaka Rin turned around and spoke to Touko.
"Touko, do you know what's going on with those Magi outside these past few days? This is your territory, aren't you going to manage it?"
"Judging by their attire, they should be people from the Schweinheim Monastery, likely sent by Cornelius Alba, whom I knew back at the Clock Tower. He is the next Abbot of the Schweinheim Monastery. That Alba guy has always been jealous of me since our time at the Clock Tower, so it's normal for him to send people to monitor me after finding out I'm here."
Tohsaka Rin thought back to Cornelius Alba. After racking her brain for a long time, she finally found the person's image tucked away in a corner of her memory. 'Oh, so he's the flamboyant guy who dressed like a 'Red Envelope' back then, who chased after Kiritsugu Emiya's father and played a minor role in Kara no Kyoukai.'
"Hmph! I bet it was your old classmate Araya Souren who found them. Alright, enough about that 'Red Envelope' guy. Touko, do you have a solution for the magical energy? My general design is complete; now we just need enough magical energy to start the experiment."
Touko walked over to the desk and picked up the Ritual Design Drawing that Tohsaka Rin had sketched.
"Hmm, for this little magical energy consumption, why not just draw from a Spirit Vein? This amount of magical energy won't affect the Spirit Vein much, right?"
Aoko, who was sitting on the sofa watching the news, stood up and loudly retorted to Touko.
"No! We agreed before that we wouldn't draw from the Spirit Veins. Most Spirit Veins globally are under the surveillance of the Mages Association. Drawing from them will only cause greater trouble."
Touko put down the Ritual Design Drawing and turned to look at Aoko.
"Didn't you say 'most'? Aren't there some that aren't monitored? We can just go there."
"Heh heh, those Spirit Veins are either controlled by Dead Apostles or located in places inaccessible to humans. The only one you could potentially reach is on that continent across the ocean, but do you dare go there?"
As soon as Touko heard about that magical continent, she shivered and quickly shook her head.
"So, Spirit Veins are out of the question. Although it's a bit troublesome, this is the only way: Tohsaka Rin, capture those guys outside and turn them into Magical Energy Sources to provide power for the ritual."
Tohsaka Rin thought carefully. It seemed this was the only viable solution in the short term.
"In that case, Touko, you make the Magical Energy Sources? Aoko and I will go out and catch people? And Alice will look after Kallen and Shirou?"
Aoko stood aside, crossing her arms, indicating she had no issues. Alice also nodded slowly. Only Touko looked troubled, smiling awkwardly as she spoke to Tohsaka Rin.
"Tohsaka Rin, I have a small difficulty right now that I need your help to solve."
Tohsaka Rin looked at Touko curiously, wondering what her difficulty could be.
Of course Touko had difficulties; she was broke. Due to her extravagant spending, her daily food relied on Tohsaka Rin and Alice purchasing it. Without them, Touko would probably have starved to death and gone through several replacement bodies by now.
"Tohsaka Rin, I currently lack the funds to purchase the materials and equipment needed to make the Magical Energy Sources. Miss of the Tohsaka Family, how about lending some support?"
Tohsaka Rin stared blankly at Touko, never having expected this particular 'difficulty.' But when it came to money, Tohsaka Rin also got a headache. Once magic was involved, the required funds were always substantial. Although the Tohsaka Family had accumulated a considerable fortune under Tohsaka Tokiomi's management, it wouldn't be hard for Tohsaka Rin to ask Tohsaka Tokiomi for a few million US Dollars. However, having already taken a batch of gems worth 10 million US Dollars from Tohsaka Tokiomi just a month ago, Tohsaka Rin was truly too embarrassed to ask Tohsaka Tokiomi again.
At this moment, Alice, who was nearby, noticed Tohsaka Rin's awkwardness and asked Touko.
"Touko, how much do you need?"
When Touko saw Alice speak up, her eyes shone with "golden light." 'How could I forget? There's another Miss here! Alice Kuonji, the daughter of the Kuonji Group, isn't she rich too? No, I can't let go of the wool on Alice's sheep either. I'll ask for 10 times the amount.'
Touko, having made her decision internally, smiled awkwardly at Alice and rattled off a long list of materials and their prices.
Alice frowned impatiently, watching Touko ceaselessly list materials and prices.
"Just tell me the total amount, Touko."
"Alice, no more than 30 million US Dollars will do the trick."
Aoko looked at Touko's nervous expression and the three unnatural fingers she held up, and secretly nodded. It was obvious that Touko had inflated the price. Aoko, who was also not wealthy, decided not to expose Touko's trickery but instead planned to ask Touko for a cut once she got the money.
Alice nodded readily, pulled a Bankbook from her pocket, handed it to Touko, and then spoke.
"Touko, take the Bankbook and withdraw the money yourself."
Touko saw the Bankbook, and her eyes, which had been glowing with 'golden light,' now looked like '$' symbols. She carefully accepted the Bankbook and nodded.
"Tohsaka Rin, Alice, I'll go withdraw the money now. I'll leave the capture work to you."
Aoko watched Touko hurriedly heading outside and quickly shouted.
"Wait! Touko, it's not safe outside right now. I'm coming with you."
Touko turned around, saw the threatening look in Aoko's eyes, and, not daring to object, reluctantly nodded in agreement.
After the Aozaki Sisters left, the 'two young ladies' remaining at the scene were merely surprised that the sisters weren't fighting today.
Aoko, who followed Touko downstairs, stopped her in the stairwell, gesturing with her left index finger and thumb as she spoke.
"Touko, if you don't want me to spill the beans, I need a piece of this pie..."
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