At that same moment, in another estate not far from the Matou Residence.
Tokiomi Tohsaka stood by a floor-to-ceiling window, holding a glass of red wine and gazing melancholically toward the Matou Residence.
He believed he had made the most perfect decision possible within his power: adopting his youngest daughter—whose talent for magecraft was as exceptional as her elder sister’s—into an allied family whose bloodline had grown weak and lacked a qualified heir.
This would shield her from the malice of other magi and the Mage’s Association while allowing her to inherit an arcane tradition as prestigious as his own.
And yet…
why had he felt an emptiness in his heart ever since he returned yesterday?
Suddenly, a strange sensation on the back of his hand startled him.
The wine glass slipped from his fingers, shattering on the floor.
“Dear, are you alright?” a gentle voice called from behind.
“I’m fine,” Tokiomi replied, forcing a strained smile as he looked at his wife.
“Aoi, please clean this up.
I have something I need to confirm.”
With that, he hurried toward his workshop.
A short while later…
‘So, Kirei received the same message as well?’
Looking at the report brought back by his familiar, Tokiomi Tohsaka pinched the bridge of his nose.
Due to a surge of Magic Power within the Fuyuki Leyline, the Holy Grail had filled much faster than anticipated.
The Fourth Holy Grail War would begin in half a month.
All chosen Masters were required to summon their Servants and arrive at the stage of the Holy Grail War before then.
If any participant failed to arrive in Fuyuki within fifteen days, the Holy Grail would automatically revoke that Master’s eligibility and select a replacement from the pool of candidates.
If all participants arrived early, the Fourth Holy Grail War would commence immediately.
He had never heard of a leyline surge causing such a chain reaction.
Furthermore, did the family records ever mention that Command Spells could transmit such explicit information to a Master?
Tokiomi Tohsaka found it utterly incomprehensible.
***
Similarly perplexed was a silver-haired old man in a castle perpetually covered in ice and snow on the other side of the globe.
A Holy Grail War starting a year early…
Fortunately, the family had already made ample preparations.
“Perhaps our allies in the Far East did something, or perhaps there is some other reason…
it doesn’t matter now.”
He looked at the girl before him, the culmination of the Einzbern family’s thousand-year peak technological prowess.
“A year early.
Are you confident?”
“Yes,” Irisviel von Einzbern nodded.
“The sheath for summoning *that one* is ready.
Perform one last calibration of the Magic Circuits, and once you’ve confirmed everything is correct, begin.”
The silver-haired old man—the eighth head of the Einzbern family, and in reality, an artificial intelligence homunculus who controlled the central hub of the entire Einzbern castle, Jubstact von Einzbern—gestured for Irisviel to proceed.
After Irisviel left, Jubstact remained in place.
After a moment of thought, Jubstact decided to activate the backup plan simultaneously.
Because the family’s homunculus technology had reached a theoretical ceiling with Irisviel, he had intended for her participation in the Fourth Holy Grail War to be the family’s final attempt.
If Irisviel could obtain the Holy Grail and reproduce the Third Magic, the thousand-year wish of the family would be fulfilled, and all would be well.
However, if Irisviel failed, it would prove that attempting to reach the goal via the Holy Grail War was as futile as every other attempt they had made over the last millennium.
As the magi who abandoned the Einzberns a thousand years ago had said: the Third Magic was a miracle precisely because it was not something that could be replicated by human effort.
If that happened, he would shut down the system and let the Einzberns drift into an eternal sleep.
But the Fourth Holy Grail War had unexpectedly begun a year early, which left a flaw in the “perfection” represented by Irisviel…
“Fortunately, the workshop’s normal operations haven’t stopped over the last eight years.
The accumulated materials should be enough to create a ‘second Irisviel’.”
With his mind made up, Jubstac Hahcoin immediately synchronized his will with the castle’s core.
…
Unlike a few individuals who had obtained their tickets early and received additional explanations when the Holy Grail system activated their Command Spells, others were caught completely off guard.
In a classroom at the Clock Tower in England, a blond youth lecturing at the podium stiffened as a sharp sting shot through the back of his hand.
‘The Holy Grail War…
an omnipotent wish-granting machine?’
‘Fine!
Just fine!’
‘I’d like to see who has the audacity to foist such a nonsensical ritual upon me, Kenneth El-Melloi Archibald!’
Despite his fury, Kenneth didn’t leave immediately.
He finished the remaining half of his lecture before storming back to his office, clutching his lesson plans.
He intended to find out what kind of idiot still believed in omnipotent wish-granting machines in this day and age, and how this fool had managed to bypass the Clock Tower’s barriers to plant a Command Spell on him.
“Do you think Professor Kenneth seems particularly angry today?”
In the El-Melloi classroom, a white-haired youth nudged the student beside him.
“Do they?
Isn’t he always like that…?”
Waver Velvet replied dismissively.
He had been distracted ever since the bright red Command Spell abruptly appeared on his hand, sending a message into his mind: “Win the Holy Grail War to obtain an omnipotent wish-granting machine.” Consequently, he hadn’t paid much attention to the second half of Kenneth’s lecture.
…
“…So you’re saying that because you wanted to help me—to be someone useful to me—this Command Spell just mysteriously appeared on your hand?”
In the Matou Residence, Byakuya fell into deep thought after hearing Sakura Matou’s explanation.
While the Holy Grail did consider a Master’s drive to some extent when selecting them, wasn’t this a bit *too* casual?
And more importantly, why on earth had the Fourth Holy Grail War started a year early?
“Big brother, did I do something wrong?” Sakura Matou asked weakly, seeing him frown in silence.
“It has nothing to do with you.
If anything, it’s actually a good thing that you’re qualified.
It’s just that some things have happened that were beyond my expectations…”
Byakuya took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Whatever.
Having two sets of Command Spells meant he could summon two Servants.
This gave his side an innate advantage over the other participants—except perhaps for the unscrupulous Tokiomi Tohsaka next door, who was cozying up to the referee and the referee’s son.
As for the war starting early…
even as a transmigrator with future sight, he had been caught off guard.
Surely the other participants were faring no better.