As soon as I open my eyes, I can feel my entire body hurting like crazy. It feels like my whole body is throbbing really hard.
The only reason I'm not crying from the pain is because I know that as soon as I cry, the throbbing will hurt even more. So, I just lie there on the bed, unable to move.
Looking around, I see the familiar furniture and the ceiling. Seeing the beautiful girl staring at me, I'm sure I'm back at Manaka's house, in the same bed where I woke up before.
"Manaka..."
"Yes?"
"Why do you keep staring at me like that?"
I try to move my head to see her. Just like when I woke up the first time a month ago, she is looking at me with a smile on her face while lying down on the bed.
"I'm just looking at the person who fried their own magic circuits to try to save another human they never even knew or saw before," Manaka said.
She still had her usual emotionless tone, but somehow, I could hear the sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, it's not that bad, right?" I said with a laugh, but even that hurt.
"Not that bad?" Manaka repeated. She leaned in a little closer, her eyes locked onto mine. "Rikka, do you even realize what you just did?"
She reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair away from my forehead. Her touch was cool, which felt amazing against my skin that still felt like it was on fire.
"You forced your magic circuits to create a Reality Marble-a world made entirely from your own soul. For an eight-year-old, that's like trying to hold a sun inside a tiny glass jar. Your body just isn't big enough to handle that much power yet."
I tried to shift my weight, but a sharp, stinging pain shot through my back. It felt like a red-hot steel rod was being shoved down my spine, vibrating with every heartbeat. It wasn't just a single spark of magic; it was the weight of an entire world that I had forced into existence, and now my nerves were paying the price.
"Every single one of your magic circuits is fried," Manaka continued.
Her voice was soft, and she looked at me with a curious, quiet intensity.
"If I hadn't been there to catch you and stabilize your mana, your soul might have actually shattered. You were burning up from the inside out."
I let out a shaky breath. My lungs felt tight, as if they were wrapped in heavy, burning bandages. Every small movement made the throbbing in my limbs flare up again.
"But... is Sakura... okay?" I managed to whisper.
Manaka sighed, a small, puzzled sound. "You're a mess, you can't even move your arms, and the first thing you ask about is that girl? You really are strange, Rikka. But that's probably why I like having you around so much."
"The girl you are talking about is fine. She's with Ayaka downstairs," Manaka said, finally letting me know that Sakura was safe.
I felt a wave of relief wash over me. My effort to rescue her had actually worked. Even though things hadn't gone perfectly smoothly, at least I had succeeded in the end.
It was just a shame I still couldn't find Ryuunosuke. He had suddenly vanished after that day we first met. On the bright side, I hadn't seen any more news about women or children being murdered. It was like he had just stopped.
"Well, I'm not going to complain if he stopped, or if someone managed to catch him," I murmured to myself while staring at the ceiling.
Still, I was curious. How did I end up back at Manaka's house? Did she find me and save me herself? And why was she at the Matou house in the first place?
"How did I get here?" I decided to ask her.
"The spell I put on you broke, so I came to rescue you," Manaka said casually, acting like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"The spell you put on me... Wait, what? What do you mean, 'spell'?"
Instead of answering, Manaka suddenly reached out and pulled down the collar of my shirt. She moved her hand over the center of my chest, and a magical mark appeared there.
I recognized that spell. It was a Ward-the kind Lady Ava had taught me to use if there was someone I wanted to protect.
But the Ward looked faded, like it had already been used to its limit. The effect was no longer active, and a moment later, it disappeared completely.
"You cast a ward? Don't tell me you're a magus! Since when?"
I literally never noticed she was a magus like me. I thought she was just a normal person, which is why I tried so hard to hide everything from her.
Wait... now that I think about it, when I asked her about the Command Spells on my hand, she wasn't surprised at all. Even when I "killed" the Command Spells with my Mystic Eyes, she just acted as she always did. And every time we played together, I never saw any other kids around-it was always just the two of us. Don't tell me she did something about that, too?
Why didn't she tell me she was a magus? If she had, I wouldn't have embarrassed myself trying so hard to hide my identity from her.
While I was lost in my thoughts, I suddenly felt a sharp pinch on my left cheek. "Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!"
"It's because you're adorable when you're clueless like that," Manaka said, still pinching me. "Watching you think so deeply is just too cute."
"Huh... when did she learn to say things like that?" I wondered. I had never seen Manaka so active in a conversation before. Even that sarcasm from earlier-it was the first time I had ever heard her talk like that.
"But you're more adorable, Manaka," I said to her, trying to flip the script on her.
"How come?" she asked.
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes wide and curious. She didn't look flustered or embarrassed like a normal girl would; she just looked genuinely interested in my answer, as if she were waiting for me to explain a difficult math problem.
She was still leaning over me, her face only inches away from mine. Up close, her skin looked like perfect porcelain, and her eyes had that deep, mysterious sparkle that always made me feel like she was seeing right through me.
"Well..." I started, my mind racing to find the right words while my cheek still stung from her pinch.
"See? You're cuter than me. Your reaction is adorable," Manaka said, watching as I sat there flustered, trying to find a reply.
"You're just teasing me, Manaka! When did you learn to do something like that? I don't remember teaching you that." I just gave a little "hmph" and looked away from her.
If I could move, I would have run right out of the room to get away from her, but unfortunately, I couldn't move at all.
"Hehe."
Even though I wasn't looking at her, I could hear a soft laugh from beside me. It was such a small sound that I would have missed it if I hadn't been listening closely. This was only the fourth time I had heard her laugh in the three years since we became friends.
"By the way, when can I move? And how long was I unconscious?"
"You should be able to move in a couple of hours. You've only been sleeping for a day," Manaka replied.
"Wait, didn't you say my magic circuits were badly injured? How can they heal in just a few hours?"
Instead of answering, Manaka reached out again. This time, she pulled up my pajama top to expose my stomach before resting her hand against it.
Suddenly, a warm energy flowed from her hand and spread through my entire body. My magic circuits began to glow so brightly that they could be seen with the naked eye.
The warm energy continued to flow into me. It wasn't an instant fix; it felt like a slow, steady repair, as if Manaka were carefully stitching my broken circuits back together one by one. I could tell this was going to take a while.
While the glowing lines on my skin continued to hum, a soft knock came from the door.
"Rikka... nee-san? Are you awake?"
I recognized that voice immediately. It was quiet and a bit shaky, but it was definitely her.
"Sakura? Is that you? Come in!"
The door creaked open, and Sakura stepped into the room. She looked much better than she had when I first grabbed her hand and pulled her away from that creepy old man.
She still seemed a bit fragile, staying close to the door. Her eyes went wide when she saw the glowing circuits on my skin and Manaka sitting right beside me.
Sakura looked at Manaka, then at the hand still resting on my stomach. Even though they had only met yesterday after I passed out, Sakura seemed to notice how intense Manaka's personality was.
"Um... Manaka-san?" Sakura asked softly, keeping her voice low. "Are you still not done yet? You've been doing that since yesterday... You haven't moved at all."
I blinked, looking up at Manaka. "Wait, since yesterday? You haven't left once?"
Manaka didn't even look away from me. Her hand remained perfectly still, her eyes fixed on the spot where her energy was flowing into my body.
"If I stopped, the repair would have been messy. It's better this way."
She said it so simply, but the idea of her sitting there for twenty-four hours straight-without eating or sleeping-just to make sure my body didn't fall apart made my heart skip a beat.
"Rikka-nee..." Sakura took a small step closer, her hands clutching the hem of her shirt. "I... I wanted to say thank you. For saving me. If you hadn't come... I don't know what would have happened to me."
"You don't need to worry! I already promised I was going to bring you back to your home, right? So there's no need to thank me just yet," I said with a proud expression on my face.
Sakura just nodded, looking down at her shirt. I really wanted to pat her head, but I couldn't reach her, so I just told her she could sit on the bed if she wanted to.
She sat down on the opposite side of the bed, staring at my body as it continued to glow from the magic circuits.
Having two people staring intently at my stomach like that was starting to feel a bit awkward...
"Can you do it any faster, Manaka?"
"Unfortunately, I need to be careful so I don't make your magic circuits worse," was all she said, without even lifting her gaze.
It took her another ten minutes to finally finish. I could feel the throbbing in my body almost vanish completely, and the burning sensation had disappeared a few minutes ago.
"Thank you, Manaka." I tried to move my body, slowly sitting up in bed. "I don't feel any pain, and everything seems normal. Thank you so much."
Manaka simply nodded. She stood up and left the bedroom without another word, leaving me alone with Sakura.
"So, can you tell me what happened after I lost consciousness?" I asked.
Just as I had suspected, my Reality Marble-even though it was only a fragment-had managed to kill all the worms that had surrounded us.
But unfortunately, more worms appeared when Sakura tried to carry me out of the mansion. They had us surrounded again.
Luckily, Manaka arrived just in time. She rescued us and destroyed the rest of the worms before bringing us back here.
"I see... I really need to find a way to repay her for saving us," I murmured.
When I first became friends with Manaka, I never expected her to be like this. And since she is a magus like me, I finally have a friend I can actually talk to about magecraft, besides Lady Ava.
I knew Sakura came from a magus family, but in the anime, I never really saw her use magecraft, so I didn't think I could talk about magecraft with her very much.
"Hmm. I'm really glad I became friends with Manaka." I nodded to myself, feeling grateful that I had put in those months of effort to approach her and build a friendship.
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Just like Manaka had said, a few hours passed and my body fully recovered. I could even stand up without my legs wobbling or losing strength.
My magic circuits still didn't feel like they were in perfect condition, but they should be fine after another few hours of rest.
However, there was another problem. Sakura didn't have any clothes to change into.
I could easily borrow some of Manaka's clothes since we were a similar size, but Ayaka was much taller than us, even though she was the younger sister.
Sakura was just too small for anything Manaka or Ayaka owned, so she really had nothing to wear.
I stepped out of the bedroom leaving Sakura that fall asleep to find Manaka. I needed to tell her about the clothes and ask if Sakura could stay here, at least until the Holy Grail War was over.
I couldn't really take her back to the orphanage since every room was already full with all my friends.
But a new problem appeared the moment I went downstairs.
I ran into someone I had never met before.
It was Manaka and Ayaka's father. He was sitting at the dining table, drinking from a cup while quietly reading the newspaper.
The man didn't look up from his newspaper at first, but I could feel a heavy, serious atmosphere around him.
He finally lowered the paper, his eyes shifting toward me.
"You're awake," he said. His voice was calm, but it had a certain weight to it. "Manaka has mentioned you quite a bit over the last few years. You're Rikka, correct?"
I paused on the stairs, feeling a bit awkward. I didn't actually know who this man was, but since he was sitting in the dining room acting like he owned the place, I figured he had to be Manaka and Ayaka's father. He looked like a typical, stern head of a household.
"Yes, sir. Sorry for the intrusion," I replied, trying to be as polite as possible.
He took a slow sip of his drink, his eyes lingering on me for a moment. "My daughter doesn't usually take an interest in others. But now, to see her spend her time with someone for three years..."
I wasn't sure if he was impressed or just confused, but being stared at by a strange adult like that made me want to get to the point quickly.
"I actually came down to ask about something," I said, stepping the rest of the way into the room.
"I brought a friend with me-Sakura. She doesn't have any clothes to change into, and I was hoping... well, that I could find something for her."
He set his cup down on the table. "The child you brought from the Tohsaka residence?"
I blinked, surprised that he knew where she came from. I guess magus families in this city really did keep tabs on each other.
"Yes, her. She can't go back there," I said firmly. "I wanted to ask if she could stay here for a while. Just until things settle down."
He seemed to go into deep thought after I said that. I just hoped he would at least agree to let her stay. For the clothes, I could think of something or even ask Lady Ava for an idea later.
The important part was finding a place for her to stay.
From his expression, it seemed like he was calculating the benefits he would get if he helped me.
I recognized that look from my previous life, I had seen that face often in the corporate world.
Lady Ava had told me that magus families weren't like normal families.
From what I had seen from Tohsaka family, it seemed like every magus family was going to be like this-always thinking about benefits and root stuff, and never about their own family.
Something weird happened while he was still thinking. His expression didn't change much, but I saw his eyes widen a little bit, and his focus wasn't on me anymore. He was looking in my direction, but not at me at all.
I turned around to see what was going on, but there was no one behind me. Before I could turn back and ask him what was wrong, he finally spoke.
"That's fine. Your friend can stay here on the condition that she doesn't go outside as long as she is here," he said.
"Really? Thank you so much!" I immediately bowed ninety degrees to express my gratitude.
With Sakura here, I wouldn't have to worry about her being kidnapped by a Matou or even being found by her father.
"Excuse me, I need to tell Sakura about this, so I'm going to head upstairs."
"Wait." Before I could even leave the room, he called me back. He pulled out his wallet and handed me some yen.
"Here. This should be enough for your friend's clothes."
Of course, without hesitation, I took the money and thanked him again before running back upstairs. Who would reject free money.
Now I didn't have to worry about Sakura's clothes. It seemed like Lady Ava wasn't one hundred percent correct, as there was at least one magus family that actually cared about someone who wasn't even part of their family.
"Hehe."
I went back to the bedroom where Sakura was still sleeping. Without hesitation, I carefully measured her so I could get the correct clothing sizes for her.
Once I was finished, I planned to look for Manaka or even Ayaka to see if they wanted to come along. However, I couldn't find either of them anywhere.
I searched the entire house and didn't see anyone except for their father, who was still reading his newspaper.
I wanted to ask him where they were, but since he had already given me money and let Sakura stay, I was afraid of being impolite.
I decided to just go alone to buy the clothes. With my illusion magecraft, I could make people perceive me as an adult, so buying the clothes would be no problem at all.
I changed out of my pajamas and looked through Manaka's wardrobe for something else to wear. I just picked out some random things that looked good before I left the house and headed to the mall.
It was already 3 PM by the time I left, so I should have enough time before nightfall to return to the orphanage. Thankfully, I had already charmed everyone at the orphanage before I left yesterday, making them think I was just in my room feeling sick.
I walked through the mall, maintaining my illusion carefully. To everyone passing by, I was just another young woman out for an afternoon of shopping. It still hurt a little when I used my magic circuits, but I could handle an illusion of this scale.
The mall was pretty crowded at this time, but that didn't really matter. I only needed to find a store that sold children's clothes. The real problem was that this was my first time at this mall, so I had no idea where I was going.
"Excuse me, do you know where I can buy clothes for kids?" I asked a security guard.
"You can go that way and turn left. It's in the open area, so you should be able to see it once you arrive," he said, staring at me.
Well, it was more like he was staring at the air above me, since he saw me as a young woman much taller than an eight-year-old.
"Thank you."
I went to the place the man had described.
I hurried toward the clothing store, my mind focused entirely on finding something for Sakura.
I was in such a rush that I completely lost track of my surroundings, my eyes darting between the colorful signs hanging from the ceiling rather than looking at the path directly in front of me.
I was so busy scanning for the word "Kids" that I didn't notice two figures stepping out from a boutique right in my path. By the time I turned my head back, I saw a flash of white fabric, but my momentum was already too high to stop.
I slammed right into the woman in white. The impact sent me reeling backward, but while I went tumbling toward the floor, the woman didn't fall.
A pair of strong arms reached out and caught her instantly, steadying her before she could even lose her balance.
I let out a sharp yelp as I hit the floor, a dull ache blooming in my tailbone from the fall.
"Oh dear, are you all right?" a gentle, melodic voice asked.
The tone was so full of genuine worry that it made me look up immediately. Standing there was a woman with long, striking silver hair and deep red eyes, wearing an elegant white outfit that looked far too expensive for a regular mall. But it was the person standing right behind her who made my heart stop.
She was wearing a tailored, dark blue business suit with a crisp white dress shirt and a necktie that seemed completely out of place here.
She exuded a commanding yet elegant presence, her blonde hair tied back into a disciplined ponytail. Those sharp green eyes were fixed on me, scanning me with a look of intense, quiet observation.
I recognized them instantly.
This was Irisviel von Einzbern, and the "bodyguard" behind her was Saber.
I stayed frozen on the floor, my heart hammer-knocking against my ribs.
In front of me stood one of the most powerful Servants in the anime, and I was looking up at them while trying to maintain an illusion of a grown woman.
"I... I'm sorry," I stammered, my voice sounding a bit shaky. "I was in such a rush, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"It is quite all right," Irisviel replied with a kind smile, stepping forward as Saber kept a protective hand near her. "It was our fault for stopping so suddenly in the walkway. Are you hurt?"
Saber didn't say anything, but her gaze lingered on the space I was occupying. I felt a cold sweat break out. Even if my illusion was perfect, Saber had that "Instinct" skill from the anime.
"Do you need help to stand up?" Irisviel asked, lending her hand toward me.
I didn't accept it and immediately scrambled up by myself. "It's fine, I can stand up on my own," I said.
My illusion seemed to be working on them too, because they looked at a spot higher than my actual eyes-the same thing the security guard had done earlier. But I couldn't stay here too long.
"I'm sorry, but I'm in a hurry. Sorry again for crashing into you earlier. Goodbye!"
I ran away, but instead of going for clothes, I decided it was better to leave the store entirely until both of them were gone.
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Irisviel watched as the young woman scrambled to her feet and practically bolted toward the mall exit. The girl hadn't even looked back, disappearing into the crowd of shoppers in a matter of seconds.
"Oh my, she really did seem to be in a hurry," Irisviel said, a small smile playing on her lips. She adjusted her white coat and turned back toward the boutique, ready to continue their afternoon.
However, she realized Saber wasn't following her.
Her Servant remained rooted to the spot, her sharp green eyes still fixed on the distant corner where the girl had vanished. She's making an expression of being troubled.
"What's wrong, Saber? Is there something wrong with the girl from before?" Irisviel asked, her curiosity piqued.
She tilted her head slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Was she a Master?"
Saber didn't answer immediately. She seemed to be weighing her own thoughts, her brow furrowing as she searched for the right words.
"No," Saber finally replied, though her voice lacked its usual certainty. "I did not sense any hostile intent, nor did I feel the presence of a contract or a Command Spell."
"Then what is it?" Irisviel asked, looking at her friend.
Saber shifted her stance, her hands resting naturally at her sides as she looked down at the floor where the girl had fallen before.
"My eyes saw a young woman. My mind tells me she was just a clumsy girl. And yet..." She trailed off, her voice growing even quieter.
"My instinct tells me that the person in front of us did not exist. It felt as though we were speaking to an empty space—a very convincing illusion."
Irisviel looked back at the crowded walkway, but there was no sign of the mysterious girl. "An illusion? In the middle of a public mall?"
"If it was, it was of a caliber I have never encountered," Saber said, her tone becoming grave.
"To fool the senses so completely while leaving no trace of mana in the air... But maybe I'm just thinking too much."
Irisviel didn't feel anything from the girl, but if her Servant said so, it seemed that girl was not normal.
However, the rules of the Holy Grail War meant it could only progress at night to avoid involving civilians. If the girl was a Master hiding herself, they would meet her again sooner or later.
For now, Irisviel suggested they leave and tell Kiritsugu about this girl. As they walked away, Saber glanced toward the direction the girl had run one last time before following Irisviel.
"The illusion feels familiar, too..." Saber murmured to herself.