Memories from ten years ago surged back like a tide. The flames, the wailing, and that man's broad-shouldered back all sent a dull ache through his heart.
For him, this return to the old ground was more like a reckoning with the past.
Gray, meanwhile, kept her hood on the whole time, curled up in the spacious seat like a startled fledgling.
She showed a kind of distance and unease toward everything around her. The roar of the engines, the polite greetings of the flight attendants, all of it made her uncomfortable.
Only when Seiji smiled and handed her a cup of warm water would she lift a pair of emerald-green eyes from the shadow of the hood and softly say, "Thank you."
The calm, gentle aura Seiji carried seemed to be the only thing on this unknown journey that gave her any peace of mind.
As for Seiji, he kept his eyes closed the entire flight, resting.
He appeared to be sleeping, but in fact his consciousness was working with the system, processing everything about this new stage at an unprecedented speed.
He could feel that as the plane flew east, the "flavor" of the world's Counter Force was undergoing subtle shifts.
London's Counter Force was ancient and rigid, like a stern aristocratic butler. The Counter Force in the skies over Japan was more reserved, more implicit, carrying the omnipresent yet hard-to-perceive quality of Shinto's "eight million gods."
"Fuyuki City..."
When the plane landed and they set foot on this soil, Seiji drew in a deep breath.
The air carried the faintly salty, humid scent unique to harbor cities, mingled with the fragrance of vegetation, completely unlike London's damp chill.
The sky here was higher, bluer.
But beneath that clear sky lay "mystery" far thicker and more violent than anything at the Clock Tower.
"The Spiritual Veins... like a sleeping dragon."
In Seiji's perception, beneath the entire city ran a vast neural network of mana.
These energy pathways called Spiritual Veins were unusually active at this moment, each "pulse" raising the mana density in the air by a notch.
He could even "smell" the faint, lingering trace of Angra Mainyu's contamination woven into the mana. It was the scar left by that great fire ten years ago, one that time could not erase.
[System command: Conduct wide-area Spiritual Vein scan centered on current location.]
[Scan initiated... constructing three-dimensional Spiritual Vein map of Fuyuki City...]
[Map construction complete.]
A semi-transparent, blue-glowing three-dimensional map instantly unfolded across his retinas.
The city's terrain and buildings became blurred gray silhouettes.
The underground Spiritual Vein network was as clearly visible as the blood vessels of a human body, every flow of energy sending ripples across the map.
He clearly saw several "nodes" where Spiritual Veins converged and energy readings peaked.
[High-energy Node One: Tohsaka Manor. Energy properties: stable, balanced, like a precisely cut crystal, containing residual fluctuations of Jewel Magecraft.]
[High-energy Node Two: Matou Manor. Energy properties: foul, twisted, like a wound continuously oozing pus. Detected massive biological signatures of 'worm'-type magecraft.]
[Highest energy-level node: Ryuudou Temple, Mount Enzou. Energy comparable to a volcano about to erupt. Detected vast magic array underground... comparing to database... comparison complete. Target confirmed as location of the 'Greater Grail.']
"Found it."
The corner of Seiji's mouth curved into a barely perceptible smile.
The shape of the hunting ground was already clear to him.
...
The person who had come to pick them up at the airport was waiting at the exit.
It was a girl in a red top and a black miniskirt, her jet-black hair tied in twin tails.
Her posture was upright, a confident smile on her face, but in those emerald eyes there was a trace of youthful tension and scrutiny she couldn't fully conceal.
"You must be Lord El-Melloi II?"
The girl stepped forward and spoke in fluent English, her tone neither obsequious nor proud. "I'm Rin Tohsaka. When my father was alive, he received considerable guidance from you."
"Tokiomi Tohsaka's daughter, then..." Waver looked at the girl before him, his eyes complicated. "You're very like your father. So... meticulous."
"Thank you for the compliment." Rin bowed elegantly, then turned her gaze to the two people behind Waver.
When her eyes swept over Gray, she clearly froze for a moment.
She could sense that the figure hidden beneath the hood contained a vast, noble power that made even her heart tremble, yet that power seemed to be sealed away by something, locked down tight.
When her gaze landed on Seiji, it carried the pure scrutiny of a genius assessing an "ordinary" person.
The mana fluctuations from Seiji were so faint as to be negligible. He looked like nothing more than a clumsy apprentice who had just begun touching magecraft.
Rin even wondered why Waver would bring such a deadweight to a place this dangerous.
"This is my assistant, Seiji Fujiwara," Waver introduced. "A young man with quite a gift for theoretical research."
"Hello, Miss Tohsaka."
Seiji at once stepped forward and bowed respectfully, his bearing humble.
When he raised his head, his face wore an expression of just the right blend of nervousness and admiration.
"I've long heard of you, the Clock Tower's 'Ever-Victorious' prodigy. Meeting you today, I see the reputation is well-deserved."
His flattery softened the scrutinizing edge on Rin's face by a degree.
No genius dislikes sincere praise.
She nodded with reserve, the last sliver of suspicion in her heart dispelled. Just a bookworm who worshipped the strong, it seemed.
"Hello." She turned her attention back to Waver. "The trip must have been tiring. The car is ready. Please come with me."
They got into the Tohsaka family car, which set off toward the manor halfway up the hillside.
In the car, Rin began briefing Waver on Fuyuki City's current situation and the preparations she had made as the "host."
Her words and bearing showed all the qualities one would expect of the heir to an excellent magus.
Seiji played the role of a quiet, taciturn assistant throughout.
He watched the strange yet familiar city flash past the window while coolly evaluating his first "prey."
Rin Tohsaka...
Confident on the outside, proud on the inside. Used to keeping everything under her own control. But... in the depths of her eyes, there's a confusion and loneliness she can't hide.
Her father dead young, her mother frail and ill, she supports the whole family alone, always on guard against the wolves who covet the Tohsaka Magic Crest. Under that kind of pressure, her "perfection" is like a thin layer of ice. Find its weakest point, tap it lightly...
And it'll shatter completely.
He was already looking forward to what kind of beautiful, broken expression this Ever-Victorious prodigy would show when faced with real despair.
The car stopped in front of the Tohsaka residence.
It was an elegant Western-style mansion with a heavy sense of history.
A powerful defensive bounded field enveloped the residence. In Seiji's eyes, it was composed of countless precise spell formulas meshing together like clockwork gears, full of the elegant and lethal style unique to the Tohsaka family.
And deep within this Western mansion, a storm capable of overturning this world was quietly brewing.
Seiji stepped out of the car, looked at the lavish stage about to become a battlefield, and revealed a hunter's smile that only he himself could understand.
...
...
On the second day after settling into Tohsaka Manor, Seiji found an opportunity to slip away from Waver's sight.
"Teacher, I need to go into the city," he said to Waver, who was in the study, brow furrowed over a massive map of Fuyuki City.
"Into the city? What for?" Waver asked without looking up. He was trying to mark every possible hiding spot for a Servant.
"To calibrate the parameters on the precision instruments in your Workshop."
Seiji's reply was airtight. "The ether density and Spiritual Vein properties differ subtly between London and Fuyuki City, especially the residual polluted mana in the air, which may have unpredictable effects on the alchemy materials we brought."
"Without on-site measurements and calibration, instrument precision could be affected."
"I plan to gather environmental samples along several major Spiritual Vein nodes and build a localized data model."
Waver couldn't refuse.
He knew how terrifying Seiji's capabilities in this area were, and these preparations truly were vital.
"...All right. Be careful." Waver raised his head from the map and warned him seriously, "Don't go near Ryuudou Temple or the Matou family's area. Those two places are dangerous. Especially the Matou family, the old monster there is harder to deal with than the legends say."
"I understand, teacher. I'm only going to the commercial district in Shinto and around the port."
Seiji answered respectfully, while inwardly he sneered.
Don't go near?
The first destination on this trip is the Matou family.
He left Tohsaka Manor, taking no transportation, choosing instead to walk. It would let him better feel the city's "pulse."
Following the directions of the system map, he passed through the bustling commercial district and turned into quiet old streets steeped in the atmosphere of the Showa era.
The high-rises gradually gave way to low Japanese-style houses, and the noise in the air seemed shut out by some invisible barrier.
The air around him grew more oppressive the deeper he went.
Even the sunlight seemed to lose its warmth, the shadows it cast unusually deep.
At last he came before a sprawling Japanese-style residence that gave off an air of decay and ill omen.
The black wooden wall stood as tall as a prison. On the tightly shut gate, the nameplate reading "Matou" was already mottled and worn. No sound came from within the residence, dead silent as a tomb.
This was the hell where Sakura Matou had been imprisoned for ten years.
Seiji did not go in. He knew this was not yet the time for a direct encounter with that old worm, Zouken Matou.
He simply walked around the residence, unhurried, like a tourist passing by. The system, however, had already scanned every inch of the residence inside and out, along with the nauseating Worm Pit underground.
He was waiting. Waiting for an opportunity for a "chance encounter."
Finally, in the afternoon, the heavy side door of the Matou residence creaked open from within.
A girl in a worn school uniform with long purple hair stepped out, head lowered, a shopping bag in her hand.
Her movements were careful, almost cringing, as if even the brilliant sunshine outside was a kind of sting to her. She walked with her body slightly hunched forward, her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes, as if trying her hardest to make her presence as small as possible.
This was Sakura Matou.
A glint of a hunter spotting prey flashed in Seiji's eyes.
He adjusted his expression, and a gentle, harmless smile at once appeared on his face as he walked toward the girl.
Just as the two were about to pass each other, Seiji's foot "carelessly" slipped beneath him.
"Ah!"
He let out a startled cry, his body lurching "uncontrollably" into Sakura.
"I'm sorry!"
Knocked into by him, Sakura's already faint presence seemed to scatter entirely.
She cried out in alarm, the shopping bag falling from her hand, apples and vegetables rolling across the ground.
"Ah... no... it's all right... it was my fault..."
The girl was terrified by the sudden incident, hurriedly crouching down to gather her things in a panic, not daring to lift her head, instinctively apologizing as though everything were her own fault.
"I'm truly sorry!" Seiji at once crouched down too, apologizing as he helped her pick things up. "I'm new here and don't know the area well. I really..."
His hand, as he picked up an apple, "inadvertently" brushed against the girl's cold fingers. They had the bloodless chill of skin that hadn't seen sunlight in years.
In that instant.
[System command: Conducting deep spiritual scan on target 'Sakura Matou.']
[Scan initiated... massive high-density Magic Circuits detected within target... large quantity of foreign organisms (Crest Worms) detected, highly fused with target's nervous system and Magic Circuits...]
[Warning! Target's soul is deeply contaminated, mind on the verge of collapse! Trace residue of 'Angra Mainyu' detected, currently assimilating with target's soul!]
In Seiji's field of vision, the girl's body before him became a translucent spirit model.
He "saw" it.
He saw those hideous, centipede-like black worms swarming densely throughout the girl's limbs and body, and even... building nests within her beating heart. The worms were greedily devouring her mana, her life, her soul.
Any person with a conscience seeing such a sight would probably go mad on the spot.
But Seiji's face still wore that gentle, apologetic smile.
In his heart, there was not a trace of pity.
Only a kind of... heartfelt awe and ecstasy, like that of the most discerning gourmet who has at last found the legendary top-grade ingredient.
The perfect... material.
He placed the last apple back into the girl's shopping bag.
"Um..." He looked at her pale, bloodless face, his voice tentative and filled with concern. "Are you... feeling unwell? Your hands are very cold."
"...No." Sakura quickly shook her head, clutching the shopping bag as if to flee.
"Is that so?" Seiji did not step aside. His voice seemed to carry a strange power that made the girl's steps halt against her will.
"But, I... 'saw'..."
His gaze seemed to pierce through the girl's body, looking straight into the darkest corner deep in her soul.
"...A great many black worms, biting you."
That sentence struck like a thunderclap inside Sakura's mind.
The girl's head snapped up, her eyes filled with the most extreme terror.
He... how could he know?!
The greatest fear of her past ten years, her greatest secret, the hell that tormented her day and night, had just been laid bare, so casually, by a complete stranger!
"You... who on earth are you?!" Sakura's voice trembled violently with fear, even carrying a hint of a sob.
"My name is Seiji Fujiwara. A passing... doctor, you could say."
Seiji smiled and extended a hand toward her.
His hand, slender and clean, seemed to give off a faint halo in the afternoon sun, like a saint of legend descended to save the world.
"You don't have to be afraid."
"Because I might be able to cure your 'illness.'"
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