The glaring sunlight slipping through the narrow gap in the tightly drawn curtains forced Ayaka Sajyou's heavy eyelids open.
Even though she was no longer a little girl, and even though she would be taking entrance exams next year, winter mornings were still nothing to look forward to.
Ayaka Sajyou reached out from beneath the quilt and dragged the alarm clock on her nightstand into the warmth of her bed.
It was a digital alarm clock that displayed the year, month, day, and day of the week, a birthday present Ayaka had received when she was seven.
Back then, she had actually wanted a cuter-looking alarm clock, but she couldn't complain about her father's kindness. In the end, she had used it for ten years.
[1999]
Ayaka glanced at the year, something she normally paid no attention to, before checking the time.
[6:14 AM]
There was still a quarter of an hour until 6:30. On any other day, she would definitely have stayed in bed a little longer.
But not today.
Today was the day her older sister would leave home.
With that thought, Ayaka Sajyou forced herself fully awake, climbed out from under the quilt, and put on her glasses.
"Alright."
After changing clothes, Ayaka Sajyou stood before the full-length mirror beside her wardrobe and combed the hair she had gradually grown out since entering high school.
Once she was sure nothing looked out of place, Ayaka Sajyou left her room.
Blowing into her hands to warm them, the girl walked down the cold hallway.
At the end, she turned and entered the family garden.
The vast garden, broad enough to call to mind a botanical garden, was where Ayaka Sajyou practiced Magecraft.
For the past ten years, she had practiced Magecraft every single day in the garden her mother had left behind, without missing even one.
Even after her father left.
Ayaka's father, Hiroki Sajyou.
Nine years ago, Hiroki Sajyou took part in a Pseudo-Singularity Holy Grail War held in Japan, and never returned.
One morning, her older sister suddenly said to Ayaka, who had only been eight at the time:
"Father isn't coming back. From today on, it's just the two of us."
Ayaka Sajyou already understood what her sister's words meant, and she cried for an entire month.
Yet even during that month, Ayaka Sajyou never stopped practicing Magecraft. It was the only way she knew to answer her father's expectations.
"And after all that, even at my age, I'm still only half-baked when it comes to Magecraft."
Ayaka Sajyou let out a quiet sigh.
Shaking herself free of that small sadness, the girl left the garden and headed toward the dining room.
Ayaka Sajyou's mother had passed away soon after she was born, so when Ayaka was very young, her father had taken care of the housework and cooking.
After her father's death, that responsibility fell to Ayaka's older sister.
Her sister was probably in the kitchen preparing breakfast right now, the girl thought.
To Ayaka Sajyou, her older sister was special.
Not only because, for the past ten years, her sister had raised little Ayaka like a mother.
It was definitely more than gratitude, or even ordinary sisterly affection.
Her older sister.
Manaka Sajyou was the person Ayaka admired and worshiped most.
She had felt that way ever since she was small.
Her older sister was beautiful and smart.
Even though she was only six years older than Ayaka, she was a perfect genius who could do anything and understand everything.
Even Magecraft.
It was said that by the time her sister was six, their father had nothing left to teach her.
As a child, Ayaka Sajyou had even believed that her sister was the reincarnation of a fairy-tale princess who lived in a castle.
Beautiful, dazzling, and so radiant it was hard to look straight at her.
And yet, three years ago, that very sister...
"Ayaka? You're up? You could have slept a little longer."
"It's fine, Sister."
Ayaka Sajyou walked into the kitchen.
By the sink near the window stood a girl so beautiful she made reality itself seem doubtful.
Not a woman, but a lovely, captivating girl.
Her platinum-blonde hair was so soft that sunlight seemed to pass through it with ease, and her pale eyes were clear and limpid.
She wore an emerald-green dress, though even more beautiful than the dress were the girl's features.
She was like a flower blooming in radiance.
Even the beautiful Elementals described in legends would probably blush and hide in the forest if they saw her.
Ayaka Sajyou went over to Manaka Sajyou to help.
"Could you get the plates from the upper cabinet for me?"
"Sure."
Ayaka Sajyou opened the cabinet above her head and took out two dinner plates.
Ironically, this might have been the only thing she could actually help with.
As the younger sister, Ayaka Sajyou was half a head taller than her older sister.
It was not because Ayaka was tall, but because...
For as long as Ayaka could remember, Manaka's appearance had never changed.
Her older sister was already twenty-three this year, yet she still had the appearance and air of a fourteen-year-old.
Her height, her figure...
Manaka Sajyou was as adorable as a princess from a picture book.
"Ah, not those. The plates for the bacon and fried eggs, so the small ones. Also, the toast should be thin-sliced, not thick."
"Got it."
Ayaka did not do housework often. No, even if she did, she still would not be able to compare to her older sister.
Manaka moved quickly in the kitchen, but with remarkable elegance.
Still, her older sister had not always been like this.
Although she had taken care of the housework for many years, the Manaka back then was different from the one now. It had felt as if she were simply preparing what was necessary.
Efficient like a robot, and highly skilled, too.
But the Manaka of today gave off a completely different air when she cooked. She had become even more radiant.
On the plates before them was a lavish English breakfast.
Bacon and eggs, toast, salad, milk, and kidney pie.
There were also fish and chips, cheese and ham, porridge and scones, black tea, and for dessert, sliced peaches and plums.
It was far too much breakfast for two girls.
Since three years ago, her older sister, Manaka Sajyou, had seemed like a completely different person.
She had become livelier than before, was in an especially good mood every day, and had begun studying British cuisine.
"The book says British people like cod..."
"Though I don't know whether the ancient inhabitants of Britannia were the same. Hehe."
Manaka Sajyou said these cryptic words with a gentle, blissful smile.
What on earth had happened to her sister?
At first, Ayaka Sajyou thought she might have fallen in love.
Although Manaka Sajyou would always be a fairy-tale princess in Ayaka's mind, she was certainly old enough for that.
Once, Ayaka had tried asking her sister, "Did you meet a man who made your heart skip?"
But her sister did not answer. She only nodded vaguely.
So Ayaka guessed that her sister must have fallen in love somewhere beyond her knowledge.
Judging from the meals her sister carefully prepared every day, was he like their mother... British? Was he a Magus, too?
But her sister hardly ever went out except to buy groceries. Where could she possibly have met someone like that?
On the internet?
They did not even have a computer at home.
Ayaka Sajyou could not figure it out no matter how hard she tried, but she was still genuinely happy for her sister.
"Ayaka? Hehe, why are you suddenly spacing out?"
Manaka Sajyou's voice, as lovely as a siren's song, pulled the girl back to reality.
"It's nothing..." Ayaka turned her face away to hide it.
"Hey, could you taste this for me?"
"Hm? Oh, sure."
"Thank you. Here, open wide... How is it?"
"It's good."
"Really? If Ayaka says it's good, then it should be fine."
Manaka said it happily, while Ayaka protested, "I'm not picky anymore."
After the sisters finished their far too lavish breakfast at the dining table, Manaka began preparing to leave.
Ayaka did not ask where her sister was going, because she felt she would not get an answer even if she did.
She was probably going to see that man.
The British man her sister had been longing for day and night these past three years.
"I'll leave the house to you, Ayaka."
Manaka Sajyou said this at the front door.
Ayaka did not want to make her sister worry, so she acted even more cheerful than usual.
"Mm. Leave the house to me. You be careful on the way too, Sister, and come back soon."
"Hehe. Then I'm off."
Manaka Sajyou stood on tiptoe, stroked Ayaka's hair, then turned and left.
"..."
Standing in the doorway and watching her sister's back grow farther away, Ayaka felt a deeply uncomfortable feeling for reasons she could not explain.
What was this?
I should be happy for Sister, so why am I...
She suddenly came back to herself.
Her sister's back looked exactly like their father, Hiroki Sajyou, when he had left home nine years ago.
The girl's eyes widened.
All at once, she felt as if she might never see her sister again, just like their father, who had never come back.
Ayaka hurriedly rushed out into the yard.
She looked around, but Manaka was already gone.
"No... It must just be my imagination."
The girl pressed a hand to her chest and kept reassuring herself.
Her sister was a more outstanding and powerful Magus than anyone else. Even if she really did run into a bad man, there was no need to worry...
Ayaka Sajyou did not yet know.
What her sister was about to face was no ordinary human, but the vortex of chaos known as the "Holy Grail War."
...
In order to perform Heroic Spirit Summoning in perfect condition, Hyoma Sagara, a Magus of the Yggdmillennia clan, returned to his homeland, the island nation of the Far East, after many years away.
At the first internal meeting of the Yggdmillennia Clan, he told his fellow clan members that he would choose an Assassin-class Servant.
In this world, ever since information about the Fuyuki Holy Grail War leaked more than a decade ago, small-scale wars between Magi had broken out all across the globe.
They could begin with as few as two Servants, or as many as five.
Across the world, Holy Grail Wars were unfolding rapidly and fiercely.
Even Magi who had once sighed that The Root was like an unreachable dream began frantically creating Holy Grails once they learned that this ritual could bring them one step, or even half a step, closer to The Root.
After roughly one hundred were made, ninety-five were damaged during production.
Of the five finished products that remained, four exploded when Mana was poured into them while they were still incomplete.
The last one successfully took shape through a ritual so degraded that it could not compare to Fuyuki's in the slightest.
This was the Magecraft ritual known as the "Subcategory Holy Grail War."
In the early days of the Subcategory Holy Grail War, it was called the "Spring of Assassins," and Assassin was the strongest class.
Since the ritual already involved an inferior Holy Grail and poor-quality land, the Hassan-i-Sabbahs' extremely low magical energy consumption and their capabilities instead became unrestricted advantages.
Relying on their superb concealment and assassination techniques, they won again and again by killing the Magi themselves.
Eliminating a Master was far easier than defeating an enemy Servant.
However, after several years of Subcategory Holy Grail War rituals, the Assassin class was no longer dominant.
There were only nineteen Hassan-i-Sabbahs on the Throne of Heroes, and their abilities and Noble Phantasms had already been exposed through countless Subcategory Holy Grail War rituals.
The Magi devised countermeasures against Assassins, and a climate of hatred toward Assassins even took shape.
By now, Assassins had returned to their original position, the lowest class.
Hyoma Sagara was, of course, well aware of the current state of Assassins, so he decided to take another route. He would not use Hassan-i-Sabbah as his Servant.
He already had the ideal target in mind.
What was the most important ability for an Assassin?
Some might say assassination technique or the performance of their Noble Phantasm, but Hyoma Sagara believed that the most important thing for an Assassin was how much information existed about them.
Even the finest Hassan-i-Sabbah was no longer so frightening once their abilities were known.
And so Hyoma Sagara chose the most mysterious criminal in the world, an Assassin whose true identity remained unknown even now: Jack the Ripper.
Jack the Ripper's most famous deed was the brutal murder of five prostitutes near Whitechapel in London's East End.
So Hyoma Sagara decided to use the flesh and blood of a prostitute as the catalyst for Summoning Assassin.
He picked one at random on the street.
Who she was did not matter. He had never seen her as a human being in the first place.
She had struggled a little at first, but after he beat her, she quieted down.
Next, all he had to do was dismember this prostitute according to the methods recorded in history and cut out her heart...
Just as Hyoma Sagara was about to bring down the scalpel, his arm stopped in midair.
"What?"
The Magus frowned, turned around, and saw a girl standing in the doorway of the hotel room.
What was going on?
Hyoma Sagara was confused.
He remembered setting up a Barrier across the entire hotel floor last night to prevent anyone from disturbing him or intruding.
Had he made a mistake when setting up the Barrier?
Naturally, the Magus would not believe that someone had broken through his Barrier.
If it could be breached that easily, then a workshop would lose all meaning.
For one Magus to infiltrate another Magus's workshop without making a sound, they would need to be at least five or six ranks higher.
That was the immense gap between a Clock Tower Pride rank and a rookie Magus with two and a half years of experience. Such a situation was simply impossible.
The other possibility was that the other party possessed an ability like "spatial teleportation," something long lost in the modern world and close to Magic.
That was even more impossible.
So Hyoma Sagara could only assume he had made a mistake somewhere.
It never occurred to him that both possibilities might be true.
"Good evening."
"Pardon my rudeness, but would you transfer ownership of your Command Spell to me?"
Manaka Sajyou spoke with a bright, fairy-like smile.
"My Prince is still waiting for me to Summon him."