Early morning, Rin took Lancelot and boarded the first bus back.
"Sorry, Berserker, I made you wait on the street all night." Rin sat in the bus seat and said apologetically to Berserker via the contract link.
"It is nothing. It is very necessary to say goodbye to family before the war. If there is anything you want to say, you should say it while you are still alive. Do not have any plans to drag things out until after the war is over. I have seen too many such tragedies in my life."
Berserker, in his spiritual form, expressed great understanding of Rin's feelings. After all, having experienced countless battles, partings, and the miseries of the human world in his lifetime, he had seen far too much.
"In every battle, one must be prepared not to return. It's best to leave no regrets. Master, if you have a secret crush you haven't confessed to, it's best to find him and tell him as soon as possible."
Rin was amused; she suddenly realized that this legendary knight from over a thousand years ago was quite humorous.
"Um, Berserker, although I look quite mature, I'm actually only seven years old! You should know that, right? Do you think I'd have a secret crush?"
Berserker replied matter-of-factly, "In our era, thirteen-year-old girls were already married, had children, and were mothers. It's not strange for a seven-year-old to have a secret crush on a boy."
"...Ancient times were truly a lolicon (loli-con)'s paradise," Rin muttered weakly, a comment Berserker completely failed to understand. Although she had been given enough knowledge to live comfortably in the modern world, internet slang was clearly not included.
"Berserker, there's one thing I must clarify: Saber, who is your former monarch, King Arthur, will appear within the next few days. I hope you won't be too impulsive when you see her." Even though Rin knew Lancelot had regained his sanity, she couldn't help but warn him. After all, the Berserker in the original work/canon would instantly attack Saber whenever they met, regardless of the time or place.
"Rest assured, Master, the berserk power of this body has settled within me; my mind is still very clear. Perhaps after a long battle, I might fall into a state of self-forgetfulness, but with your aptitude, Master, you are fully capable of controlling my madness."
"Is that so? Thank you for your trust."
"No, it is my greatest fortune, Lancelot's greatest fortune, to meet a Master willing to fulfill such a shameful wish of mine."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Jeanne, who had been shopping in Fuyuki City all day, had basically covered the entire Fuyuki. Holding the highest-level credit card Rin had given her, she could, without exaggeration, buy half of Shinto (New City) with this platinum card linked to the Tohno Group, if she wished.
A beautiful, single young woman leisurely shopping naturally became the prime target for various idle delinquents to approach. For these "wild monkeys" who didn't know their place, Jeanne would always smile and follow them into dark alleys, where, in a corner unseen by anyone, the flames of revenge would ignite!
Jeanne had a similar personality to Rin; she had no interest in makeup or dressing up, and couldn't be bothered to glance at fancy clothes or jewelry. Compared to those celebrity women who were packaged with various cosmetics and outfits, Rin and Jeanne were the type of natural beauties who couldn't be ignored. They didn't wish to be the center of attention, but alas, even if they deliberately inflicted two wounds on themselves, they would heal quickly without a trace, making it impossible for them to become ugly.
Thus, Jeanne found that without Rin by her side, the entire modern world felt so strange and boring. Aside from going to a few decent luxury restaurants for meals to satisfy her hunger, Jeanne truly had nothing to do.
On the morning of a new day, after finally finishing breakfast, Jeanne went out again. Remembering what Rin had told her in the past, she casually asked a passerby for directions and then headed straight for a bookstore. When she arrived at the bookstore, she recalled Rin's words:
"Jeanne, I've now cast 'Language of All Things' on you. How is it? Can you understand text now?"
"Yes, I can understand it."
Rin breathed a sigh of relief, as it was her first time casting this spell on someone else, and then she said to Jeanne:
"Since you can understand text, read more books when you have time. If the more profound ones are too difficult, I recommend some fairy tales for you to read!"
"Why should I read those things?"
"To make up for your lost childhood. A childhood without fairy tales isn't a childhood. You can buy these books at the bookstore and read them whenever you have time."
Although Jeanne didn't remember having such a thing as a childhood, she still, from memory, bought a dozen books based on Rin's recommendations. After returning to the temporary Western-style house, she lay on the sofa, casually pulled out a copy of "Snow White," and after quickly flipping through it, she couldn't help but say:
"These modern fairy tales are truly incomprehensible."
Jeanne concluded after reading:
"If the Queen understood magic, why go to such great lengths to send a hunter to deal with that naive White Princess? She could have done it herself. Besides the magic mirror, I can't see any other signs of her knowing witchcraft. It just doesn't make sense! And..."
Jeanne said indignantly, with a tone of disappointment:
"Those seven foolish little dwarfs acted as both father and mother, raising that princess to be plump and fair. Why didn't any of them dare to kiss the princess who ate an apple given by a stranger? In the end, they raised the beautiful girl only to give her away to some prince from who knows where. Indeed, incels who can only fantasize about goddesses don't deserve love!"
Is that your review...? Jeanne then pulled out another book, "The Little Mermaid." This time, Jeanne remained silent for a long time after reading it. Finally, with a sigh, she said sadly:
"Indeed, illiteracy and inability to write are the greatest tragedies in the world!"
...Where did you get that conclusion from?
"Even if you can't speak, if you can write, you can still communicate! A dignified princess being illiterate, she deserved to watch herself be taken by another woman! And that prince is even more incomprehensible. What kind of nonsense is it to inexplicably treat an unfamiliar beautiful girl like a sister?! Shouldn't male beings have some male beings' impulses?! What's even more incomprehensible is..."
Jeanne continued, filled with indignation and even a hint of sorrow:
"Why do all the women in fairy tales fall in love with princes?! Do commoners not deserve love?!"
While sharply criticizing, Jeanne eagerly opened the next book, "Cinderella." She read through and criticized all the fairy tales she had bought, and finally, feeling hungry, realized it was time to eat. So she went out to find food, guessing that her Master and Berserker probably wouldn't be able to join her for the 9 o'clock meal again.
At the same time, at F Airport, the closest airport to Fuyuki City, a charter plane from Germany, operated by the Italian airline Vorale, was slowly landing on the runway.
A captivatingly beautiful woman disembarked from the plane. Because it was a charter flight, not many people were stunned or gathered to watch her beauty. This woman was Irisviel von Einzbern, the participant from the Einzbern family, the most important of the three families that initiated the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City.
"So this is where Kiritsugu was born..."
What a wonderful place. Although she had some understanding through photos and such before, Irisviel couldn't help but praise it again after experiencing it firsthand. It wasn't just her mood that felt relaxed. This time, she was disguised as a tourist, so she wasn't wearing her usual Western-style dress, but rather ordinary clothes as close to a common person's as possible. Although she was only wearing flat boots and a knee-length skirt, it gave her a feeling of rebirth, moving freely and easily.
However, for the Einzberns, who were relatively isolated from the world, their so-called commoner attire was far from the scope of "commoner." A silk shawl and knee-high boots, a silver fox fur coat—they looked like clothes only seen in high-end department store windows, and were undoubtedly very expensive. And for Irisviel, who had been cherished as a treasure since childhood, this luxurious and expensive outfit seemed so fitting. One could even say that only such an outfit could match her flowing silver hair and beautiful appearance.
Although she had painstakingly prepared such "commoner attire" to appear as an ordinary person, it was unfortunately only a commoner in the eyes of the Einzberns. Moreover, a beauty like her, no matter what she wore, would never look like an ordinary person.
"Saber, how was the air travel?"
Irisviel disembarked first and spoke to her Servant, who was following behind her and about to step onto the ground.
"Nothing special. More boring than I imagined."
A petite young woman, dressed in a dark blue suit with her brilliant golden hair tied back, looked heroic and striking—a different kind of beauty from the mature silver-haired woman.
This short but dazzling young woman is the'Saber', the so-called strongest class in this Holy Grail War. Her true identity is the most legendary monarch in the historical legends of Britain, King Arthur! Her true name is Arthur Artoria Pendragon.
She showed no feminine weakness or pity, exuding a firm, solemn, and unyielding aura, no less than a man. The expression in her holy blue eyes was as calm as ever.
"What a pity, I thought you'd be surprised and grateful to me."
"...Irisviel, you don't think I'm a primitive person, do you?"
To Saber's frowning, displeased expression, Irisviel offered a pure smile.
"Flying, for a Heroic Spirit, probably isn't worth being surprised by at all."
"That's not it. It's just that as a Servant appearing in this modern society, I've been granted much modern knowledge by the Holy Grail. And as a swordsman, I also possess Riding skill. If worst comes to worst, I believe I can operate this machine called an airplane."
Irisviel was stunned by Saber's words.
"You can operate an airplane?"
"I believe so. The objects of my Riding skill are all 'mountable objects'."
"I see, so this is a conceptual skill. It can be activated by anything that fits people's concepts."
Other Masters would likely travel to Japan by various means of sea transport, so Irisviel, traveling with only her Servant and pretending to be ordinary tourists on a plane, should be considered an exception.
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