Half an hour later, outside a high-end detached villa in Miyama-cho, Fuyuki City.
Yoru Hayashi held Tohsaka Sakura’s hand—she was now dressed in a little pink trench coat—as he stared at the carved wrought-iron gate in utter disbelief.
“I say, ATM…
ah, my bad, Brother Kariya, are you sure this is a property you bought in secret?”
Before him stood a Western-style villa complete with a private courtyard, a two-car garage, and even a small heated swimming pool.
It stood in stark contrast to the gloomy, decrepit old Matou estate.
This was practically the peak of bourgeois decadence!
Kariya Matou fished out his keys with a wry smile.
“I did run away from home years ago, after all.
Writing non-fiction and columns for magazines helped me save a bit of money.
This house is registered under a normal friend’s name, so Tokiomi Tohsaka and my twisted old man will never trace it here.
You two can settle down without worry.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Look at you, hiding your light under a bushel.”
Yoru pushed the gate open without ceremony.
Leading Sakura, he took a lap around the spacious, sunlit living room before slumping into a plush leather sofa with a contented sigh.
“Sakura, this is our new base from now on.
Isn’t it ten thousand times better than that crappy basement?”
Sakura looked around curiously.
Bright sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto the floor, making the whole room feel pleasantly warm.
Taking off her little red leather shoes, she took a couple of cautious steps across the carpet in her white tights.
Only after making sure no bugs were crawling out did she happily run over to Yoru and snuggle against his arm like a kitten.
Watching this, Kariya, still standing in the doorway, felt his eyes well up again.
He rubbed his hands together, trying to look as gentle and amiable as possible, and crouched down before the sofa.
“Sakura, do you remember me?
It’s Uncle Kariya…
the one who used to bring presents for you and Rin all the time…”
Sakura looked at Kariya.
A glimmer of recognition flickered in her large, violet-crimson eyes, but she immediately shrank back behind Yoru, clutching tightly to the corner of his coat with both hands.
“Hello…
Uncle Kariya,” the little girl greeted in a tiny voice before falling silent.
To Sakura right now, Kariya might be familiar, but in her darkest, most terrifying moment, it had been Yoru who dropped from the sky and carried her out of that foul, horrific pit of worms.
In a child’s worldview, whoever rescued her from the monsters was her absolute sanctuary.
Seeing Sakura’s guarded, distant demeanor, Kariya felt a pang of heartache—much like an old father watching his prized cabbage get uprooted, pot and all, by a passing wild boar.
“Alright, brother, cut the melodrama.
The kid just went through hell; the fact that she even said hello is already a win.”
Yoru patted Sakura’s little head and turned to Kariya, his expression turning unusually serious.
“We’ve got the house and we’ve got the funds.
It’s time for a strategy meeting.
There are still about ten months before the Holy Grail War officially begins.
How much do you know about Tokiomi Tohsaka’s moves?”
When it came to serious business—and especially upon hearing the name “Tokiomi Tohsaka”—Kariya’s eyes sharpened instantly.
“That bastard Tokiomi is nothing but a fanatic for magecraft dogma!” Kariya gritted his teeth.
“I heard the Tohsaka family has mobilized massive resources for this Holy Grail War.
Tokiomi even had someone procure an ancient catalyst from the distant Middle East—supposedly the fossil of a shed snake skin—to summon a top-tier Servant.”
“Oh, a snake skin,” Yoru said, casually picking his ear.
“If nothing goes wrong, he’s summoning the Oldest King, the King of Heroes, Gilgamesh.
That guy’s a total pay-to-win cheat.
Not only is he armed to the teeth with Noble Phantasms, but his temper is as foul and stubborn as a rock in a latrine.”
“Don’t measure me by that pitiful intelligence network of you magi.
I’m a man with foresight.” Yoru leaned back against the sofa and casually peeled a mandarin, popping a slice into Sakura’s mouth and puffing up her little cheeks.
Kariya took a deep breath, trying hard to calm his reeling mind.
He understood the young man in front of him less and less.
He couldn’t sense any powerful magical energy fluctuations from him, yet he had pounded that old monster into pulp.
He looked like a street punk, yet he spoke of the Three Founding Families’ deepest secrets like the back of his hand.
“Since you know Tokiomi is going to summon such a terrifying monster, how do you plan to deal with him?” Kariya swallowed nervously, fixing his gaze on Yoru.
“Hayashi-kun, where is your Servant?
Which class of Heroic Spirit do you plan to summon?
Saber?
Or Berserker?”
In Kariya’s mind, a ruthless guy who could mop the floor with Zouken Matou had to be a hidden master magus who had prepared an incredible catalyst and summoning circle long ago.
However, Yoru spread his hands with an innocent look.
“Servant?
Don’t have one.
I’ve never even seen what a catalyst looks like.”
“Huh?!” Kariya was dumbfounded.
“And another thing,” Yoru said, holding out his right hand and flipping it back and forth.
“See?
Perfectly clean.
Forget Command Seals, there isn’t even a mosquito bite.
Strictly speaking, I’m not even a Master right now.”
The air seemed to freeze.
Kariya’s blood pressure instantly shot up to 280.
“You have no Servant?!
You don’t even have Command Seals?!” Kariya’s voice cracked, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull.
“Then what are you going to fight those mythical heroes with?!
Punching Heroic Spirits’ Noble Phantasms with your bare fists?!
You were so confident at the diner about making Tokiomi lose everything down to his underwear—turns out you were just bullshitting me!”
It was over.
Everything was ruined.
Kariya felt as if the savings he had just handed over had grown wings and flown away.
He was already contemplating whether he should rush back to the Matou basement and beg his freshly pulverized biological father to shove a couple more crest worms into him.
Seeing Kariya on the verge of a mental breakdown, Yoru waved his hand dismissively.
“What’s the panic?
Don’t we still have ten months?” Yoru said with absolute composure.
“Isn’t the Holy Grail just an oversized wish-granting machine?
As long as it deems me worthy, it’ll hand me an entry pass sooner or later.
As for worthiness…”
Yoru narrowed his eyes, recalling how he had been chewed to death by worms fifteen times.
A cold smirk touched his lips.
“I threw away my life fifteen times just to save this kid.
Right now, not only do I want to shove Tokiomi Tohsaka’s head into a toilet, I also want to smash that damn cup just to hear the crunch.
With desire and obsession like this, if the Grail dares play blind and not pick me, I’ll march right up Mount Enzou and rip its aorta out!”
The moment Yoru finished speaking—
*Hummm—!*
A strange, warped surge of magical energy erupted from deep within Fuyuki City’s underground leylines, crossing space to lock directly onto Yoru!
[Ding!
Strong desire for interference detected from host.
Resonance with the “Fuyuki Greater Grail” established!]
[Ding!
Main Quest updated: Obtain qualification for the Holy Grail War!]
Evaluating host’s qualification…]
The next second, Yoru felt a sharp, searing pain on the back of his right hand, as if a red-hot branding iron was being pressed directly into his skin!
“Big Brother!
Your hand!” Sakura cried out beside him.
Kariya also stared fixedly at the back of Yoru’s hand.
Accompanied by a blinding, dark crimson glow, three blood-red marks were wildly etching themselves into Yoru’s skin, slowly taking form.
Normal magi would feel varying degrees of agony when chosen by the Grail and branded with Command Seals.
But who was Yoru?
A lunatic with maxed-out pain resistance!
Not only did he barely register the pain, he stared at his hand with keen interest, like watching a tattoo artist at work.
“Oho, speak of the devil.
Seems the damn cup has some sense after all.”
As the light faded, a brand-new Command Seal settled onto the back of Yoru’s right hand.
Yet when Kariya caught sight of the shape, his expression became utterly priceless.
The Command Seals of Masters throughout history took shapes like wings, crosses, or swords—all possessing an occult, classical elegance and symmetrical beauty.
And the three red strokes on Yoru’s hand…
At the bottom was a thick, semicircular base, with two strokes intersecting as they stretched upward, clenching tightly at the apex.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a fist raised high toward the heavens, flipping the middle finger in the universal gesture of international friendship!
“Th-This is your Command Seal?” Kariya felt thirty years of magecraft common sense collapse into rubble.
“Is the Holy Grail cursing you, or are you flipping off the Grail?”
“What do you know?
This is the ultimate romance of a berserker!”
Yoru was thoroughly pleased with the “middle finger fist” Command Seal on his hand.
*Entry pass acquired.
Good assist from the system.* Yoru gave the system a thumbs-up in his mind.
[Ding!
Congratulations to the host for officially becoming a Master in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Distributing rewards…]
[Reward: Mastery of Basic Magecraft Theory]
[Reward: Gacha…
ahem, Catalyst Search Radar (Single-use).]
Hearing the system chime, Yoru’s eyes lit up instantly.
He had just been wondering: now that he had Command Seals, without a catalyst, would he really have to wing it like that psycho serial killer Ryuunosuke Uryuu and draw a random circle to summon an unreliable Servant?
Now the system had directly handed him a radar!
“Brother Kariya, snap out of it.” Yoru stood up, rolling his shoulders as an eager, troublemaking gleam flashed in his eyes.
“Now that I’m a Master, summoning a Servant is top priority.”
“You have a catalyst?” Kariya asked hurriedly.
“Not right now, but I will soon.” Yoru slid open the villa’s French doors, gazing toward downtown Fuyuki City with a wicked grin that sent shivers down Kariya’s spine.
“Come on.
While it’s still early, I’ll treat you to some ‘five-finger discounting.’ In a place like Fuyuki City, there are always a few unlucky bastards hoarding good stuff in their basements.”
Kariya’s eyelid twitched violently.
“Five-finger discount?!
You’re going to rob other magi?!”
“How could an educated gentleman call it robbing?
This is called intercepting!”
Yoru scooped up the still-dazed Sakura and thrust her into Kariya’s arms.
“You stay home and babysit.
Order some takeout and wait for me.
Tonight, I’ll show you what a true SSR-tier Heroic Spirit looks like!”