"Tohsaka Tokiomi said."
Under Rin's puzzled gaze, Tohsaka Tokiomi roughly explained the reason.
The curse of the black mud, the possibility of treatment at the Clock Tower, and so on. By the time she heard the end, Rin could understand it, but she was also filled with reluctance.
Before she could fully process all that information, Tohsaka Tokiomi gently patted his daughter's head.
"Before I leave, I have a gift for you."
His voice was quite gentle. Under Rin's questioning gaze, he slowly took out a corner of black cloth.
Rin's expression shifted. She already had a faint guess in her heart, and subconsciously asked, "What is this?"
Tohsaka Tokiomi looked into his daughter's eyes and said calmly, "A relic of the White Dragon."
"A relic of the White Dragon?"
When she saw what Tohsaka Tokiomi was holding, Rin couldn't help but freeze, as if she couldn't quite believe it.
Ever since the Greater Grail system of Fuyuki was exposed, many magi had been watching Fuyuki. Or rather, watching the Greater Grail of Fuyuki.
As one of the Three Families, the Tohsaka family had actually been under considerable pressure. Even just to ensure the Greater Grail remained in Fuyuki, Tohsaka Tokiomi hoped to guarantee that the Fifth Holy Grail War would be foolproof.
In Tohsaka Tokiomi's view, the White Dragon was an indispensable Servant, and Rin also clearly understood her father's fixation on the White Dragon.
It was just that she never expected her father to actually find a relic of the White Dragon.
'How did he even manage that?'
Before she could think further, Rin quickly frowned slightly to herself, a trace of worry hidden deep in her eyes.
"What's wrong? You don't seem very happy."
Out of concern for his daughter, Tohsaka Tokiomi asked gently, "Did something unpleasant happen during your time in the palace these past few days?"
Rin shook her head lightly, "Nothing, everyone in the palace treated me very well, and that White Dragon even saved me earlier."
"In that case, why do you still look like you're not very happy?", Tokiomi looked at his daughter, puzzled.
Rin subconsciously looked up at him, her lips parting slightly. She hesitated for a moment, but in the end swallowed the words she had been about to say, and said softly, "I'm not unhappy. I'm just a bit surprised."
Only then did Tohsaka Tokiomi's tightly furrowed brows relax. He gently patted her head and said, "You don't need to feel burdened. I've already spoken with Lord White Dragon. This time, it's also with his consent."
Rin's eyes flickered slightly, and she asked instinctively, "He agreed to be summoned for the Holy Grail War?"
Tohsaka Tokiomi nodded faintly and roughly explained his earlier conversation with Alvin.
After hearing it to the end, Rin showed a thoughtful expression.
In short, the White Dragon agreed to cooperate with Tohsaka Tokiomi in order to obtain the right to use the Greater Grail.
'I wonder… what his wish is?'
The current Britain was different from history. The appearance of transmigrators had brought huge changes to ancient Britain, and no one knew how history would develop.
Likewise, Rin didn't know what the White Dragon's ending in this timeline would be. Otherwise, she might have been able to guess what he wanted the Greater Grail for.
After chatting for a few more lines, Tohsaka Tokiomi left the room.
Once the door closed again, Rin's gaze quickly fell onto the black cloth fragment in her hand, and a conflicted expression soon appeared on her face.
Actually, for the girl, she didn't dislike the Holy Grail War or the White Dragon. Rather, if she could have the White Dragon as her Servant, her chances of winning the Fifth Holy Grail War would increase greatly.
'It is just… what about Sakura?'
You had to know, ever since the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War, her younger sister had been longing for a future encounter with the White Dragon.
If one day in the future, her sister saw her Servant...
As if imagining some scene, Rin gently brushed her fingers over the black cloth fragment, her eyes showing a trace of complexity and hesitation.
Then another thought quickly surfaced in her mind: although her father said he had reached a cooperation agreement with the White Dragon, if the Master who summoned him was herself, what would he think?
'Am I really worthy of being the White Dragon's Master?'
Rin's eyes flickered. She let out a light breath, suddenly feeling that the relic in her hand was incredibly heavy.
After a long time, she carefully placed the White Dragon's relic into a drawer, stored it properly, and turned off the desk lamp.
The room was quietly swallowed by darkness.
———
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the next transmigration.
When Alvin returned to Britain, the first thing he did was bring food to find Tiamat.
The last time he was able to force Kiara back, a large part of the reason was this woman.
Tiamat, the primordial mother goddess, for ordinary people, the identity of "Beast" could be considered a buff to combat power.
But for Tiamat, Beast was actually a kind of restriction.
She shouldn't have belonged within the category of Beast. It was only after being "eliminated" by the era that she became a beast that obstructed human order.
As the embodiment of "return," Tiamat was different from ordinary Beasts. Her Saint Graph was far too massive. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that compared to Tiamat's true body, even Alvin's White Dragon core seemed insignificant.
Not only Alvin, any other Beast's Saint Graph was far inferior to Tiamat's.
Perhaps it was because, after Kiara fled Britain, news about Tiamat spread, or for some other reason, but in any case, there had been no large-scale disturbances in ancient Britain recently.
And all of this was thanks to Tiamat. Precisely because of that, Alvin brought a pile of delicious food to reward her on the very day he returned.
"Tia, eat more. If it's not enough, I'll grab some from Lily's dinner."
At this moment, deep inside a palace, Alvin had people bring the prepared dishes one by one to Tiamat.
Tender roasted squab, golden-fried chicken legs, tofu topped with minced garlic. In fact, many of these foods didn't belong to this era, but ever since the transmigrators appeared, ancient Britain had undergone earth-shaking changes.
Sometimes Alvin even wondered whether, if things kept developing like this, ancient Britain might turn into a "Lostbelt."
After all, the reason ancient Britain collapsed in the first place was because, at the end of the Age of Gods, crops stopped growing. The people lost their food supply, and King Arthur faced widespread blame and doubt, until Britain ultimately fell.
But now, the transmigrators and ancient Britain were trying to solve the problem of "food."
If they could solve basic sustenance, Britain might completely stabilize.
But what the future would be like wasn't something he could change just by worrying about it. For now, he would just keep watching… Alvin smiled to himself and picked up a steaming meat bun from the table, taking a bite.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring straight at him from the side.
He turned and saw Tiamat's bright, star-like eyes fixed eagerly on the bun in his hand.
Alvin paused, thinking, 'You've already been eating one after another without a word, and you won't even leave me this one?'
That's what he thought, but he still tentatively handed the bun over, "Do you want it?"
Tiamat's eyes lit up at first, but then she sighed a little regretfully, shook her head, and let out a soft "Aaa."
Then she pointed at the bun in Alvin's hand, signaling for him to eat it himself.
When a foodie is willing to share food, it means her affection toward you is already quite high… Alvin felt a bit gratified, but still handed the bun over, "You eat it. I'm not hungry."
Tiamat looked at the boy with some doubt, then glanced at the big meat bun in his hand, hesitating as she unconsciously swallowed.
Seeing Alvin's sincere expression, she finally accepted it and began eating it bite by bite, her cheeks puffing up like a dumpling.
Alvin cooperatively handed her a cup of water. After she swallowed, he smiled and said, "Have you been happy since leaving the Imaginary World?"
Tiamat looked at him, then wrote in her notebook, ["Although I haven't really left the palace, the outside world is much more interesting than I imagined."]
At the mention of this, Alvin couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.
Counting the time, it had already been over a month since Tiamat's spirit left the Imaginary World.
He had originally planned to take her traveling outside for a while, but now the transmigrators were a mixed bag, and there might be some hidden dangers among them.
Although those dangers weren't enough to threaten Tiamat, if someone used her spirit to locate her true body, or even awaken it, it would be a catastrophic disaster for Britain.
"Once Britain stabilizes, I'll take you out to relax," Alvin suddenly said.
Tiamat patted the boy's head, then wrote in her notebook, ["Even staying in the palace, I'm very happy. And you're here with me."]
["In fact, it doesn't have to be only when there's danger. If you miss me, you can summon me as well."]
She continued writing.
Seeing the gentle expression on the woman's somewhat youthful face, Alvin was momentarily stunned.
The "Mom" Noble Phantasm had always felt interesting to him… whenever he encountered danger, he could use his existing mana to summon Tiamat and turn the situation around.
But thinking about it carefully, even when there was no danger, he could still use this Noble Phantasm, if he wanted to see her.
After a brief silence, Alvin nodded seriously, "Got it… next time I return to the real world, I'll find a chance to summon you."
"When that time comes, I'll take you out for a walk in the real world."
Tiamat's eyes lit up slightly, but soon dimmed a little, ["When you're in the real world, will your mana be enough?"]
"After the Age of Gods, mana in the air becomes extremely thin. It will affect me as well. But with the White Dragon core, maintaining your spirit for a while won't be difficult. Don't worry."
"Do you trust me?", Alvin asked.
Seeing Tiamat nod obediently, Alvin smiled and gently stroked her soft hair.
The two were enjoying this simple warmth when suddenly, light footsteps came from outside.
Then a voice sounded from the door, "Father…"
'Little Mo? This kid really doesn't know how to read the room,' Alvin raised a brow slightly, "What is it?"
"That little girl you brought back seems to want to talk to you, do you want to see her?"
Mordred's voice continued.
'The little girl… Rin?'
Alvin thought for a moment, "Have her wait a bit. I'll be there shortly."
Tohsaka Rin… since bringing her back to the palace that day, Alvin had only met her once, and even then only spoke briefly.
What did she want with him now?
As Alvin was thinking about this, a system interface suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[You have triggered a special CG mission: The Fifth Holy Grail War's Promise]
[This mission will affect multiple characters' CGs. Next, please aim to unlock all CGs.]
———
In the afternoon at the royal palace of Britain, warm sunlight poured down.
Tohsaka Rin sat by the window, absentmindedly staring outside.
At that moment, she suddenly heard light footsteps. She instinctively turned to look at the door and saw a boy dressed in black being led into the room by Mordred.
Noticing the girl's gaze, Alvin smiled slightly, "You were looking for me, Rin?"
Rin subconsciously glanced at Mordred and didn't say anything.
Mordred clicked her tongue, "Tch, kids really are troublesome."
'Did you forget you're a kid too,' Alvin kept a smile on his face, but couldn't help complaining inwardly.
After Mordred temporarily left the room, he looked at Rin and said, "What's wrong?"
After bringing Rin to the palace, Alvin had let her rest on her own inside the palace.
One reason he hadn't come to see her was that too many things had been happening lately and needed handling. Another reason… in the eyes of the people in the palace, Alvin was now King Arthur's aide. Wherever he went, he would attract attention.
If possible, Alvin didn't want Rin to draw too much attention either.
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