“Making the vessel of the lesser grail into a homunculus? That really is unexpected.”
Back at Ryuudou Temple, upon hearing about Einzbern’s modifications to the lesser grail, even Medea couldn’t help but feel surprised.
No ordinary person would ever expect that the Master participating in the Holy Grail War was herself the ultimate prize.
“The lesser grail is currently the Einzbern Family’s Master. It’ll be somewhat difficult to get our hands on her, so let’s target the Matou Family first.”
“Next…”
Surtr looked up at the clock on the wall; the hands pointed to around three in the afternoon.
“Let me take a trip to the school first.”
“The school?”
Medea was puzzled.
What did this have to do with attacking the Matou Family?
“The Matou Family has a disgusting old worm. His main body should be hidden there. Rather than charging directly into enemy territory, going there will be faster.”
She gave a brief explanation.
She remembered that Matou Zouken’s true body was hidden inside Sakura’s heart.
Since she had decided to take action, she might as well solve the problem at its root to save herself future grief.
While she was at it, she could also resolve Matou Sakura’s physical condition.
The story of Fate had three routes in total—at least, three that she knew of.
She didn’t know which route the current story was following, but certain settings should remain unchanged, such as the grail fragment embedded in Matou Sakura.
No matter which route it was, there were fragments inside her body; the only difference was whether they were activated or not.
Dark Sakura was an absolute hard counter against Servants.
Even Surtr found that thing extraordinarily troublesome, so it was necessary for her to nip this possibility in the bud.
The attending physician would naturally be Medea; with her around, none of this would be a problem.
“I understand.”
Medea nodded.
However, before that…
Surtr glanced at Medea’s black robes, then looked down at her own battle-damaged dress.
In the dead of winter, she obviously couldn’t go out wearing this.
“Mmm, let me find some clothes first.”
A moment later, Miyama Town.
Surtr and Medea strolled through the bustling streets.
Medea had already taken off her black robes and changed into a black shirt under a navy-blue jacket, with a pale yellow long skirt reaching her ankles.
Her elf-like ears were hidden behind her hair, making her look like an ordinary tourist visiting from abroad.
Surtr was dressed similarly, though she swapped the skirt for pants for ease of movement.
Naturally, as two penniless paupers, they had no money to buy clothes, so they temporarily borrowed a little from Buddha.
Once they finished robbing the Matou Family, they would definitely pay it back.
Lævateinn had also been put into the system’s inventory—a storage space of three by three by three meters—so she didn’t have to carry a giant case around in public.
However, even after changing clothes, their looks alone were quite eye-catching.
Especially the obsidian-like horns on Surtr’s head, which garnered a nearly 100% turn-head rate.
Fortunately, this level of abnormality was still within acceptable bounds.
Ignoring the surrounding gazes, after picking a few lucky passersby to ask for directions, they made their way all the way to their destination.
Homurahara Academy, school gate.
“Do you feel like there’s something strange about this place?”
Surtr suddenly asked Medea.
She was actually quite curious.
Homurahara Academy—this school was truly a land of extraordinary people and rich culture.
The legendary high-jump king, the legendary assassination fist, the Tohsaka sisters, and even someone like Fujihara Taiga whose luck breached the heavens…
even if someone told her that the grounds beneath this school were the resting place of a saint, she would believe it.
“Strange? Is there anything strange here?”
Medea was puzzled.
After sensing carefully for a moment, she found nothing.
“Ah, don’t mind me, I was just asking offhandedly.”
Surtr waved her hand and stepped into the school.
Since there was nothing, then whatever.
The security guard at the gate saw strangers entering and tried to stop them, but Medea, following behind, glared him back with a single look.
Of course, it wasn’t some kind of overlord aura, just a hypnotic suggestion.
Entering the campus.
It was nearly four in the afternoon.
In the Far East, school had ended long ago by this time; some students were participating in club activities at school, while others went straight home.
This couldn’t help but remind Surtr of her own high school days.
School alone didn’t end until almost six in the evening, and not long after that, they had to return for evening self-study, not getting home until ten at night.
By comparison, this was enviable.
“What’s wrong?”
Medea felt a fluctuation in her Master’s emotions.
“Nothing, just getting sentimental.”
Tossing aside the tears that were almost falling, Surtr raised a hand to stop the nearest female student.
Speaking of which, Japanese high school girls really were healthy, wearing such short skirts even in the dead of winter.
Miss Surtr marveled in her heart, subtly casting a glance at the snow-white thighs exposed to the cold wind.
A certain someone had completely forgotten that not long ago, she was dressed even more skimpily than her.
“Excuse me, please wait a moment.”
Opening her mouth, Surtr was about to ask where the archery club was located, but before she could, a crisp voice called out to her first.
“Wait.”
“Master, it’s a Servant.”
Medea warned in her mind.
It was normal enough.
There was more than one Servant in this academy, and after all, neither of them was an Assassin, so they couldn’t hide their presence from other Servants. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Sorry, never mind. An acquaintance has come for me.”
Dismissing the girl, Surtr turned around.
What met her eyes was a girl dressed in red.
Her jet-black long hair was tied into twin tails behind her.
Although her figure was average, a pair of well-proportioned legs forged through just the right amount of training made it impossible to look away.
Pity, she was just a bit flat.
Sweeping her gaze across a certain someone’s chest, Surtr shook her head as if in pity.
At the same time, a prompt appeared in her mind.
[Client: Tohsaka Rin]
[Quest: Wishes to have an endless supply of gems]
[Reward: 500 Primogems]
Another quest.
An endless supply of gems?
What a greedy woman.
Surtr wanted an endless supply of gems too.
Forget gems; Surtr had to borrow even her spending money from Buddha right now.
It was already something to be thankful for that she didn’t ask her for financial aid.
“Why is it that I suddenly have a very annoyed feeling?”
A vein popped on the forehead of a certain Miss Plain, as she forced a fake smile and asked the person who had offended her with narrowed eyes.
“You’re participants in the Holy Grail War, right? What are you doing here at this hour?”
She didn’t know why someone participating in the Holy Grail War would specifically come to a school—a place having nothing to do with the war.
Anything she could think of wasn’t good.
As the second owner managing Fuyuki’s land, she needed to find out their objective.
‘Rin, be careful.
That red-haired person gives me a very bad feeling.
She might be even more dangerous than that Servant.’
A calm male voice warned in Rin’s mind.
‘Yeah, I feel it too.’
Rin agreed in her heart.
Mages were sensitive to anomalies, and Surtr was unquestionably an anomaly.
She wasn’t about to treat the horns on her head as mere decorations.
To be honest, if she hadn’t been able to see the Servant’s stats as a Master, she might have thought Surtr was Medea’s Servant instead.
“I’m looking for Matou Sakura. Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with you as well.”
Surtr felt it was necessary to tell her about Sakura’s situation.
However, the other party’s next reaction exceeded Surtr’s expectations.
“Matou Sakura? Who is that?”
Tohsaka Rin frowned.