Inside a villa in Fuyuki City, a fierce 'battle' was currently taking place.
"Bang! Clap clap!!! Hadouken!!!"
"KO!!!"
"Hahahaha, as expected of this King, my gaming skills are so terrifying that even I fear them." Seeing himself once again flawlessly defeat his opponent, the blond man placed a hand on his forehead and laughed loudly, saying, "It's too early for you to reach this King's level of gaming skill, Sakura, hahahahaha!"
"Ah, dead." A black-haired little girl expressionlessly put down the controller in her hand, watched her character get taken out in one combo on the screen, and then looked at the arrogant blond man beside her.
People's joys and sorrows are not the same; she only found him noisy.
"This is the gap in strength."
A year had passed since this blond man claimed to have been summoned by her.
In this short year, Sakura watched with her own eyes as this blond man gradually transformed from an arrogant 'King' to an arrogant 'idiot,' and finally, regrettably, to an arrogant'shut-in.' This transformation happened very quickly; the state of being an arrogant King, in Sakura's memory, didn't even last a month.
At least, for now, she grew increasingly suspicious of the blond man's claim of being a King. Did such a shut-in King really exist in the world? She was truly worried about the man's mental state.
If at first she had admired, or rather, yearned for the blond man, then now her usual emotion was a 'wuwah~' feeling of regret.
Initially, he said this was something called the Holy Grail War, and then... a year passed, and there was no sign of the Holy Grail War. He truly had been a shut-in for a full year, spending almost every day playing games and rarely going out.
So much so that now, she had almost forgotten the term Holy Grail War.
Just as the blond man was celebrating his tyranny over a child, the sky outside the window suddenly turned crimson, with occasional streaks of red lightning flickering in the distant air.
Looking at the reddened sky, the blond man knew without a second thought that the Holy Grail War had begun. "Interesting... Has the first battle of the Holy Grail War finally begun?"
"Holy Grail War? Oh, is that what you mentioned before?" Sakura thought for a long time before remembering that this was the Holy Grail War that the blond man had occasionally brought up during the first half-year after he claimed to have been summoned, saying he was summoned by her to participate in the Holy Grail War.
So, Sakura continued to ask, "Are you going to fight now? In reality."
"Foolish!" However, to Sakura's surprise, the blond man suddenly stood up, arrogantly raised his head, and with his arms crossed over his chest, declared loudly, "It's only the first day of the Holy Grail War. To descend into battle directly like this would be far too demeaning."
The blond man closed his eyes, recalling the role-playing games he had played during the year since his arrival. "A King, by rights, should exist like a final boss in a game, awaiting the arrival of the brave hero, so..."
Hearing this, Sakura tilted her head and asked curiously, "...So?"
"A King should sit and wait for death!!!"
——————
Irisviel and Merlin had just walked out of the arcade, and by then, the sky had turned pitch black.
Looking up at the dark sky, they had only planned to browse the arcade for a while, but they got so engrossed in playing racing games that they lost track of time. When they came out, it was already late at night.
Standing at the entrance of the arcade, Irisviel paced back and forth, saying, "It's over, it's already dark, the Holy Grail War must have started."
After flying from Germany to Fuyuki, Japan, she hadn't even gone to the Einzbern family's castle in the forest, the place that was supposed to be their base during this Holy Grail War. She had just been focused on playing games. The thought of Kiritsugu being disappointed in her when he found out made Irisviel's heart begin to panic.
She shouldn't have listened to that scoundrel's enticement, saying there was plenty of time and they should explore more, and then he disregarded her warnings and ran into the arcade. Irisviel had no choice but to follow him in. Now, the Holy Grail War had already begun, and she hadn't made any preliminary preparations.
Thinking of this, Irisviel looked at Merlin, as if saying nothing, but saying everything.
"Oh dear... I'm sorry, it got dark before I knew it." Merlin scratched his head, speaking with an innocent expression, but there was not a single trace of apology in his heart; he could even be said to be enjoying it.
However, seeing that Irisviel's expression became a little ominous after hearing his words, Merlin decisively chose to change the subject.
"Speaking of which, Kiritsugu arrived in Fuyuki several hours ago."
"Eh? Kiritsugu has arrived?"
Merlin pointed to his eyes and continued, "Yes, I saw him with my Clairvoyance."
"Where is Kiritsugu now?"
Upon hearing this, Merlin, with the image of Kiritsugu, was somewhat unsure how to delicately explain to Irisviel the scene he was currently witnessing of Kiritsugu and Maiya kissing. But since she asked, he naturally had to tell her.
Merlin spread his arms, then slowly waved them upwards from his sides in a yoga-like slow motion, until they were fully facing upwards, then clasped his hands together and lowered them to his chest.
"Peace and joy."
"Peace... and joy?" Irisviel frowned and thought carefully, not quite understanding what Merlin meant. So she asked with a slightly hesitant tone, "What does that mean?"
"Nothing, you'll understand naturally when the time comes." Saying this, Merlin looked at Irisviel's head, where a green light seemed to swirl.
Hearing Merlin's words, Irisviel's confusion grew, but before she could ponder it further, a news report playing on a screen in a nearby electronics store caught her attention.
"According to the latest news, a pipeline buried beneath the road at the entrance of Huiqun Yuan Academy in Fuyuki City experienced a leak half an hour ago, resulting in a rather violent gas explosion. The road at the school entrance suffered severe damage, but fortunately, no one was injured. The fire is currently under control..."
"Are Servants already fighting?"
"Yes, about an hour ago. You were so engrossed in playing the racing game that I didn't want to disturb you, ah hahaha."
"..."
——————
At this moment, Jerry was still searching for a way to enter the house.
Ever since Tom threw him out of the house earlier, he had been looking for a way to get back in, but... the surrounding windows were all tightly locked. Only the gap under the front door was easy to squeeze through.
Unfortunately, entering through the door was too easy to expose him; he might be discovered by Tom and thrown out again. However, at this point, there seemed to be no better option. If he didn't enter from here, he would have to spend the night outside. Finally, Jerry made up his mind and decided to force his way in.
Jerry first quietly approached the door, peered through the crack into the house, and after confirming that Tom was not in the entryway, he pushed his head through the crack, and then his entire body followed into the house.
However... what Jerry didn't notice was that on the shoe rack beside him, a large blue-grey cat had already spread his arms, a wide, evil grin on his face as he watched Jerry's tiptoeing back.