That night, in a corner of the Matou Residence.
It was a room that had never been occupied because the Matou family had always lacked members; even Zouken Matou hadn’t bothered to let his insects crawl through it.
Thus, in Byakuya’s judgment, the room was “clean.”
Sakura Matou, who had been taken to the worm pit immediately after being adopted—and despite Byakuya’s timely rescue, had been severely traumatized—was already fast asleep under her covers.
Sitting in a chair by the bed, Byakuya spent his time reading a book found in the Matou study regarding the Holy Grail of Fuyuki.
‘Heroic Spirits…
Servants…
Ho, so they have a trick like that up their sleeve?’
Upon flipping to a certain page, Byakuya let out a soft sound of surprise at content that was unexpected, yet made sense upon further reflection.
Over a hundred years ago, the Einzbern family and Zouken Matou—who was then known as Machiavelli Zolgen—came to Japan, far from the center of the magical world, to evade the surveillance of the Holy Church and the attention of the Mage’s Association.
In Fuyuki City, they persuaded the local landlord and current head of the Tohsaka family, Nagato Tohsaka.
For the sake of their respective wishes, the three jointly created a system known as the “Holy Grail War.”
The Tohsakas provided the land, the Einzberns were responsible for constructing the Holy Grail system, and Zolgen completed the system for summoning Servants.
These were the respective contributions of the three founding families when the first Holy Grail War began.
Among them, aside from the Tohsakas who provided the land, the other two families were involved in the construction of the Holy Grail’s core system.
Naturally, this gave them the ability to manipulate things behind the scenes during the war.
For example, during the Third Holy Grail War, the Einzbern family illegally summoned a Servant of the Avenger class, Angra Mainyu, which led to the Holy Grail being contaminated by “All the World’s Evil.”
For example, in the Fourth Holy Grail War, which was originally set to unfold a year later, the Master from the Matou family was simply too incompetent.
To compensate, Zouken Matou added a specific incantation to the summoning process, intentionally calling forth a Berserker—a class that traded sanity for raw power.
After the Fourth Holy Grail War ended, the old worm even used recovered Grail fragments to cultivate an incomplete Lesser Grail.
Byakuya had known all of this long before he ever transmigrated into this world.
However, what he hadn’t expected was that besides the incantation for Mad Enhancement, Zouken Matou actually possessed six other specialized chants—each capable of designating the summons for the other six orthodox classes!
Just looking at the contents of this single page, Byakuya felt that even without the satisfaction of saving Sakura Matou, taking down Zouken Matou had been well worth the effort.
‘Hmm?
Who’s looking for me?’
Suddenly notified by a mention, he opened the group chat interface and found that the chat was quite lively, even though it was late at night.
『Newbie』: [Let me see who’s @-ing people in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.jpg]
『Cancer of the Earth』: Uh…
Mr.
Byakuya, are you already in bed?
[Awkward.jpg]
『Newbie』: Not really, I just sent that on a whim.
After all, it is getting pretty late on my end.
/smirk
『Cancer of the Earth』: Emmmmm, actually, it’s pretty late for us too.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Alright, let’s get straight to the point.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Look closely, look closely~ [Photo.jpg]
『Newbie』: …?
Byakuya clicked on the image.
The picture showed Chika Fujiwara in her pajamas; in other words, it was a selfie.
However, in that selfie, Byakuya spotted another group member…
Utaha Kasumigaoka, also wearing pajamas!
Chika then began to explain the discovery the group had made while Byakuya was busy researching the Matou library.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Based on our testing, the criteria for the “Active Request for Help” part of the system’s [Quest] function are extremely lenient.
『Cancer of the Earth』: For example, if I’m about to take a step forward but I’m worried I might trip, I can post a request for help asking someone to steady me.
As for the reward, a simple “thank you” will do.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Once the request is posted, since it’s unlikely the person accepting the quest can reach across worlds to hold me up, the group system asks if they want to teleport to the quest world…
which, in this case, is my world.
『Newbie』: I get it.
You’re using “Active Request for Help” as a “World Portal.”
『Cancer of the Earth』: Bingo~ Exactly!
『Newbie』: That’s pretty convenient.
『Newbie』: While I expected the group to evolve from simple communication to allowing us to visit other worlds, I assumed the system would create a separate paid service for it—like charging a hundred points per teleport, for instance.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Hiss…!
『Cancer of the Earth』: I mean, for a miracle that lets us travel between worlds, a hundred points—which you can save up just by checking in for a little over three months—would be cheap.
Even a thousand points wouldn’t be too much.
But now that you mention it…
『Cancer of the Earth』: Being able to teleport for free is wonderful!
[Relieved.jpg]
『Youkai Sage』: [Group Notification: Feedback regarding the [Quest] function bug has been received.
Relevant rules have been modified: “When posting a quest, the maximum number of participants must be preset, and a teleportation fee of 100 points per person must be paid.”]
『Cancer of the Earth』: ?!
『Cancer of the Earth』: Sis…
ter…
Yukari!
『Cancer of the Earth』: Don’t just pop up and scare people like that!!!
『Youkai Sage』: Tee-hee☆~
『Cancer of the Earth』: (.?｀?’?.)
『Youkai Sage』: Alright, alright, jokes aside.
Let’s be serious.
『Youkai Sage』: Since we’ve made this discovery, whether the system left this gap on purpose or plans to patch it later, we can at least use [Quests] to visit other worlds for now.
『Youkai Sage』: So, while it’s still free, why don’t we find a time to have an offline gathering?
『Utako Kasumi』: Works for me.
School just let out a few days ago, so I should be free for the next month or so until the new semester starts in April.
Just let me know the plan.
『Cancer of the Earth』: Me too, me too!
『Esdeath』: I am available at any time.
『Youkai Sage』: In that case…
what do you say, young man?
@Newbie
『Newbie』: Wait, does this involve me?
『Youkai Sage』: Why wouldn’t it?
You’re in the group too, aren’t you?
『Youkai Sage』: To borrow a phrase Chika-chan used once: among the countless intelligent beings across countless worlds, the fact that we were chosen by the Super-Dimensional Mutual Aid Group is a destiny in itself.
Since fate has brought us together, if you don’t mind, just think of everyone here as friends.
『Youkai Sage』: Now that we’re friends, there’s no way we’d have a gathering and leave you behind.
『Newbie』: That’s true, but I only just joined the group, didn’t I?
『Newbie』: If I remember correctly, the last person to join before me was Esdeath, and she’s been here for over half a year already.
『Utako Kasumi』: Uh…
that’s true.
『Utako Kasumi』: You’ve known Chika and Yukari for over a year, and Esdeath for six months.
If I had just joined, I probably wouldn’t have dared to attend a cross-world gathering either.
『Cancer of the Earth』: How about this: we can livestream it for you, Mr.
Byakuya, so you still feel like you’re part of it?
『Newbie』: It doesn’t have to go that far.
I’m mainly worried that as a newcomer who isn’t familiar with any of you, my presence might kill the mood.
『Newbie』: If you don’t mind that, then count me in.
『Youkai Sage』: Yay~ Then it’s a unanimous vote.
『Youkai Sage』: Since we’re all free right now…
why wait?
『Cancer of the Earth』: I’m down.
『Utako Kasumi』: +1
『Esdeath』: +1
『Newbie』: +1
『Youkai Sage』: Great.
Now…
for the next topic.
Byakuya’s place is obviously inconvenient in every sense of the word.
Out of the remaining four worlds, which one should we choose as the location for the Super-Dimensional Mutual Aid Group’s first gathering?