Mifune City.
This is a stage that exists within the Nasuverse, and one that is profoundly mysterious and important.
A crucial part of the entire Nasuverse, the story known as The Garden of Sinners, unfolds on this very stage.
And that's not all—this modest stage, or rather this unassuming city, is teeming with extraordinary talents. The intensity of the stories here rivals that of the neighboring Fuyuki City.
Whether it's the descendants of the Asagami and Ryougi, two of the Four Demon Hunter Organizations of Japan, or a certain enigmatic old woman with Absolute Precognition, known as the Mother of Mifune City—they all make their appearances in this mysterious locale.
In the original world line, Aozaki Touko had been thoroughly trounced by her younger sister, Aozaki Aoko, using the Fifth Magic in Misaki Town about six or seven years ago, depleting all her accumulated resources. Upon returning, she was slapped with a Sealing Designation by her teacher, leading to a warrant from the Clock Tower's Policies Department. Lacking resources and mentally exhausted, she had no choice but to flee across the world, eventually slinking back to the East Asian region where the Clock Tower's influence was weaker—the mystically barren Japan—hiding in this city called Mifune.
A mere city in Japan simultaneously hosts a Grand Puppet Master, someone with Absolute Precognition, and outstanding descendants from two demon hunter organizations—truly a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Even ignoring the other flashy individuals with unique aptitudes, the presence of a connection to the Root alone maxes out its significance. After all, mages strive their entire lives to reach the Root, and here it is, manifesting right in front of them.
From this, it's clear that this small city, not far from Fuyuki, is heavyweight in its own right. And not far from here lies the equally significant Misaki Town, where the stories are even more complex, and it's Aozaki Touko's hometown besides—but that's for later.
In any case, from Roy's perspective, while Western Europe often dismisses Japan as a mystically barren land with few mages, he saw it as truly formidable. Countless major figures had met their downfall here. Foreign mages coming to this region without ample mental preparation faced a high risk of capsizing.
Some things, even at his current level, he preferred not to engage with proactively—like the situation unfolding now...
"No way... is this for real?"
A long sigh echoed through the dense bamboo grove.
Just moments ago, he had been walking with Aozaki Touko along the streets of Mifune City, chatting amiably as they headed toward the hotel where Kayneth and Waver were staying. But in a mere blink, Aozaki Touko had vanished without a trace from his side, and now he found himself before a thick bamboo forest.
"...Hm?"
Sensing the anomaly, Roy opened his senses fully in the next instant, ready to handle any unusual circumstances.
Then, an indescribable aura enveloped his mind. He followed the winding stone steps upward, and soon his gaze was drawn to a beautiful figure at the end of his line of sight, clad in a pale yellow kimono adorned with numerous floral patterns. Their eyes met in a brief moment.
In that instant of contact, those black pupils, capable of encompassing all things, seemed intent on drowning Roy's consciousness. The Magic Crest from this body, along with his bloodline and magical energy, began to tremble unconsciously. The intangible Formation Circle etched in his palm started to heat up. To any mage, the aura of this girl was like a sweet poison, stirring the soul and compelling the body to reach out to her—the Root.
'Reach her! Touch her! Enter her! That's what you seek!! Hurry and enter her!!' (Referring to the Root.)
In that moment, memories hidden in his bloodline cried out relentlessly. Roy's body instinctively took a step toward the stairs, poised to advance toward that figure like any mystery-pursuing mage.
But...
"...Not bad. It's tempting, sure, but I can still control myself. Seems your allure isn't as overwhelming as I imagined, Root? No, it should be Miss Ryougi Shiki."
Roy halted his steps, suppressing the so-called bloodline surge and the innate mage's nature in less than a second.
The supreme status he possessed, along with a soul not of this world and thus beyond common logic, easily quelled the body's craving for the Root.
Entering the Root held no great appeal for him.
If he wished, even without the Holy Grail's power, with sufficient rituals and special preparations, he could still reach the Swirl of the Root. But there was simply no need.
Reaching the Root didn't guarantee escape, and the uncertainties were far too great.
Thus, the scene froze abruptly.
A gentle breeze rustled through the bamboo grove, stirring their hair. Roy stood at the base of the steps with his hands behind his back, gazing distantly at the girl above. Their eyes flickered with different emotions, making it hard to fathom what either was thinking.
"You're... quite interesting indeed."
Finally, that ethereal voice shattered the serene atmosphere. Realizing she might not escape by simply turning away, and with the other's tacit approval, Roy stepped forward to stand before the girl.
Even now, his gaze remained calm.
"You're interesting, outsider."
Lifting her head, controlling Ryougi Shiki's body, the Void Shiki fixed her pitch-black, star-like eyes on Roy without a hint of unease. In those eyes, she could see a figure shimmering with ultimate colors—that was the soul, Roy's consciousness, a treasure and miracle not of this world. It was what the King of Heroes had coveted until his final moments.
Facing this figure still before him, Roy lowered his head and softened his voice to ask, "Even without pursuing the Root, you've sought me out. So, what are your thoughts, and your stance on what I've done? Care to answer?"
Though phrased as a question, in the instant his words fell, a silver wand materialized in Roy's palm. An extraordinarily unique magical energy began to ripple around them, creating layers of waves in the bamboo grove.
"I merely wished to meet you, as you're quite interesting. And the changes you've brought represent a new possibility.
"In any case, seize every possibility. The future is bound to become even more intriguing, outsider."
A serene smile graced that exquisite face. Then, turning, Void Shiki ascended the stone steps. Though the answer was ambiguous, Roy had no intention of pursuing her. While she appeared to walk, her figure instantly appeared ten meters away in the moment she stepped.
This method of movement differed entirely from Roy's usual wind element acceleration or special spatial magecraft. It wasn't mere speed enhancement or translocation from one point to another, but a natural integration with the world, as if stepping across a dozen meters was an inherent truth of existence.
Thus, even without action, she perfectly unified harmony and dissonance with the world in her being. Simply put, this was an existence beyond mere common sense.
Void Shiki, huh...
What an absurd being.
Facing her evoked the sensation of confronting the world itself. This peculiar feeling was far clearer and more uncomfortable than the oppression from the Jewel Mage.
'Really... others who cross into this world go around dominating everything, right? Why does it feel so underwhelming for me? Even after learning parts of the Book of the Law, with my magecraft attainment reaching Grand rank—there are only a handful in the modern mystic world who could beat me. Yet I keep running into ceiling-level threats?'
'It's utterly ridiculous...'
'Though mysteries attract mysteries, and anomalies draw anomalies, this escalation is too extreme.'
He had thought that after completing his long-planned scheme in the Holy Grail War, he could finally rest and catch his breath. But now, it seemed he had been too optimistic.
The Nasuverse was far more complex and dangerous than he imagined.
'Time to keep getting stronger... and next time, I'm never coming back to this hellhole infested with monsters. Anyway, I've already dismantled and packed up the Greater Grail—the Fifth Holy Grail War is straight-up canceled. If I can't beat them, can't I at least hide?'
He lacked the arrogance of typical transmigrators, who upon seeing a beautiful character would revel inwardly, presumptuously believing only they could bring her happiness.
Though Roy said nothing, the departing Void Shiki seemed to sense his thoughts.
"By the way, we'll meet again."
Leaving those light words, she turned back with a smile, and that figure, pristine as fresh snow, vanished. Roy's gaze lost its target in the final moment, and the Root's aura dissipated completely. Then, as he emerged from this unknown bamboo grove, a gaze from an indeterminate source locked onto him. He responded with a grand spell from his finger, enveloping himself in golden-system magecraft to declare his stance. After a while, seemingly confirming no anomalies, the gaze withdrew, and the world returned to peace.
'Damn it, the Counter Force's gaze came over because of the Root's appearance. You all really never quit, do you?'
Roy cursed inwardly. Recalling the Root's parting message about meeting again, he dropped the pretense, flipped off this wretched world that had nearly sent a Grand Hassan to kill him, and spat disdainfully.
What did the Root want with him anyway?
With his setup, he wouldn't fear another Holy Grail War. This minor stage of The Garden of Sinners? He could toy with it at will. If he truly tackled The Garden of Sinners, he could play the final boss—someone like Araya Souren, that fallen monk whose overall attainment didn't even match Aozaki Touko's, would get strung up and whipped by him. He'd plunder every resurrection point!!
No big deal, no big deal...
Knowing he couldn't escape, Roy could only console himself for now. Though, it seemed the troubles clinging to him had multiplied once more.
Then, gazing at the desolate highway before him and glancing back at the now-vanished bamboo grove, his freshly calmed mind sank into contemplation again.
"...You pick me up but don't drop me off? Where the hell did you dump me? Damn! Is this even still in the area?!"
...
...
Meanwhile, in Mifune City, a full three cities away from Roy.
In the hotel, Aozaki Touko stared blankly at Kayneth, whose face was etched with solemnity.
"Miss Aozaki, where's my apprentice? Where did you take him?"
Seeing the empty space beside Aozaki Touko, Kayneth suppressed the rage from being knocked out and dragged to the hotel earlier, then bound. He questioned her, "Where's Roy? Didn't you say he came back with you?"
"Uh, Lord El-Melloi... this is complicated. In short, I don't know either?"
Facing Kayneth's interrogation, Aozaki Touko was equally bewildered.
She hadn't noticed when Roy vanished. From leaving Fuyuki City by train, to taking a taxi to the nearest street, to walking side by side toward the hotel—Roy had been right beside her the whole way. Then...
Without sensing any magical energy or detecting any anomaly, Roy simply disappeared. Even more terrifying, she had walked back nonchalantly as if under a suggestion spell, oblivious to anything amiss, until seeing Kayneth's sour-lemon face and his questions snapped her awake. Only then did she realize—Roy was gone?!!
"So... what exactly happened?"
Seeing Aozaki Touko's surprised expression, Kayneth sighed. Though his emotions were turbulent and he wanted to rant like in the classroom, recognizing her as Aozaki Touko—a Grand Puppet Master, a rank above his own Brand, with superior strength and record—he couldn't lash out. That would be asking for a beating. Moreover, she had recently saved him and Waver, so despite his inner turmoil, he suppressed his anger and calmly inquired about Roy's whereabouts.
Yet even racking their brains, they couldn't figure out how Roy had vanished right under their noses without a trace.
Thus, Kayneth's eased mind tensed up again.
Fortunately, they didn't waste too much time fumbling like headless flies. Just as they prepared to search outside, Roy called Kayneth from a public phone booth in some distant city, ending the farce.
He explained that something had suddenly come up, so he couldn't return to Mifune City right away. He told Kayneth to take Waver and the others back to Britain first, and he'd catch a flight from another city soon.
He also mentioned over the phone that he had hired Touko as an external consultant for the Crowley—no, in Kayneth's view, the El-Melloi faction!! And he hoped Kayneth could resolve her Sealing Designation. He noted losing one mana furnace but gifting another, though the rest of the Mystic Codes were recovered intact and could be handed over upon his return to London.
As Roy anticipated, hearing about the lost and gifted mana furnaces made Kayneth wince, but considering he and his student had survived unscathed and gained an excellent grand-disciple, it suddenly seemed acceptable. Call it averting disaster through sacrifice.
The El-Melloi faction's furnace didn't concern him—it was an outdated supreme Mystic Code he had long abandoned, essentially a oversized portable mana source. The faction's true supreme Mystic Code was his invincible Volumen Hydrargyrum. As for the gifted lord's mana furnace, sure, it cost a hundred million pounds, but as payment for a Grand Puppet Master saving him and his student, it was sufficient. Lives intact—no loss.
Moreover...
He wasn't sure what relationship Roy had with Aozaki Touko, but to bind this woman, famed as the Unrestrained Wind from his generation, and invite her to his family was baffling.
Back when Aozaki Touko wasn't yet Grand, numerous magus families had courted her, including his own, but she accepted none. Who would have thought the Grand Puppet Master, Miss Aozaki, would agree to his apprentice.
As an external consultant for the Crowley family—no, the El-Melloi!!
Excellent, another massive gain.
Even Kayneth hadn't expected to return from this trip with a Grand-level ally.
Not only had teacher and students survived that hellish, cursed Holy Grail War with bountiful gains—they had won big time. Compared to Emiya Kiritsugu, Tohsaka Tokiomi, and Matou Zouken—those fools who either died or clashed disastrously—his wise retreat was brilliant.
As for the Sealing Designation Roy mentioned?
Laughable. It was just old fossils suppressing uncontrolled geniuses under the guise of protecting mysteries, akin to inquisitorial persecution.
Plenty of geniuses in lord lineages—why no judgments there? He himself was a magus prodigy, destined for Grand—why no move against him?
Did they not want to? They didn't dare!!
Aristocratic factions united, several lord lineages orbiting Barthomeloi—who would seal theirs? So resolving a Sealing Designation was a joke to Kayneth.
A letter to his teacher and Lord Barthomeloi upon return would settle it.
No matter what, he wanted Aozaki Touko as an ally. Her joining the aristocratic side would be a huge prestige boost. Once he and Roy reached Grand, the aristocrats would gain three Crown influences—others would have to submit. His era had fully arrived.
He and Roy were young, with Sakura as a genius successor, plus Aozaki Touko—one faction with three Grands? No, he'd make it four! Flatten all factions, become the Clock Tower's top academic valve! The bottom-tier Upper Four Flags El-Melloi would transform into the Clock Tower's premier, the Union Jack! Even the aristocratic king, Barthomeloi, would fear El-Melloi.
At this thought, a wild grin spread across Kayneth's face.
"What's with that creepy expression..."
Seeing the sleazy look on the lemon-head's face, Aozaki Touko felt a chill. Noticing it, Kayneth realized his lapse, coughed twice, and refocused on Aozaki Touko across from him.
"Miss Aozaki, I've heard about your deal with my student. First, as leader of the El-Melloi faction, I sincerely welcome you to El-Melloi and the aristocratic side. Your Sealing Designation issue—I'll discuss it with Lord Barthomeloi upon return, so rest easy."
"Huh? Wasn't it the Crowley family? Why El-Melloi now..." Hearing Kayneth, Aozaki Touko looked slightly stunned, sensing he was up to something.
"Ahem, no need to worry. I've always groomed Roy as heir, especially after his parents' passing. Isn't it said that a teacher is like a father? As his master, that rascal will soon be family, inheriting the faction leadership—the Lord position. So whether Crowley or El-Melloi, it's the same."
Kayneth replied without evasion.
After these events, he was more determined to keep Roy close and reach Grand soon. The marriage arrangement—that kid couldn't escape.
Not long ago, he had tasked his family to find a suitable, talented candidate from a branch for his wife. Her name: Lainess El-Melloi Archisorte.
Her age was young now, but irrelevant—engage first, marry in seven or eight years. Roy would only be thirty then.
In the magus world, age meant little for superior offspring—cross-age, cross-species, cross-gender were common. He saw no issue.
As for burdening Lainess with sudden promotion to main house and marriage?
Nonsense! Kayneth saw no burden.
A branch girl from a magus house would likely be married off anyway. He not only elevated her to main house but paired her with his prized student, a near-certain Grand genius—what grievance?
Conversely, Lainess's parents were overjoyed at their daughter's promotion and betrothal to Kayneth's disciple, future El-Melloi leader.
"Lord El-Melloi, you wouldn't be planning to..."
Hearing Kayneth's response, Aozaki Touko's eyes widened slightly, clearly piecing it together.
"Yes, exactly. I've selected a match for that kid. Upon return, we'll arrange it. In about a decade, once he hits Grand, he can inherit my position—no problem."
"As expected... that guy's quite popular."
Hearing Kayneth's confirmation, Aozaki Touko's expression grew complex.
"Just to be clear, whether Crowley or El-Melloi, I won't fully surrender my freedom. You have no right to force me into danger or anything disrespectful."
Hearing Kayneth's reply, Aozaki Touko sighed, dropping the topic and laying it out upfront.
"Rest assured, Miss Aozaki. We won't restrict your freedom—you can go anywhere. But the El-Melloi faction has priority purchase rights to your research results."
Kayneth quickly added.
He never intended to use Aozaki Touko as labor; she was a bona fide Grand, and as a genius himself, he respected geniuses.
Her stance and timely contributions would suffice.
Moreover...
Whether illusion or not, Kayneth sensed Aozaki Touko and Roy shared a close, complex bond.
This vaguely stirred a crisis, prompting him to accelerate prior plans and lock things down for peace of mind.
Post-this, he had his future mapped.
Upon return, he'd assign Waver—that guy lacking magus talent but showing other aptitudes—to clerical work, steering his skills right. Reluctantly, the kid excelled in theory, even surprising him—likely to inherit his classroom someday. So, cultivate him as a key aide for future El-Melloi leadership, shining (overworking) in his role. Roy would continue his magus studies, ready to succeed him as the faction's face.
With work delegated, he could relax—stay home retiring or honeymoon with his wife, both fine.
Thinking this, his prospects seemed bright.
Glancing at the clock behind him, Kayneth realized takeoff time neared.
Originally, tickets for five including Roy, but now they'd go ahead. Good that the kid was safe—he'd return soon.
Going first let him prepare the surprise—nice development.
Thus, Kayneth adjusted his attire, went out to call Waver, who was upstairs tutoring little Sakura in basic magecraft, and had him bring her along. Time to head back to London.
"So, Miss Aozaki, you're sure you won't join us?"
At the hotel entrance, ready to depart, Kayneth asked Aozaki Touko.
"No, Lord El-Melloi. I still have my mage's workshop and many Mystic Codes to pack in Mifune City. Once done, I'll head to the Clock Tower myself."
"I see... alright then."
Hearing her, Kayneth nodded, not pressing further.
He turned, urging the luggage-laden Waver to hurry, took Sakura's hand, and bid Aozaki Touko farewell.
"Then, looking forward to our reunion soon, Miss Aozaki."
"If my student returns here, tell him I went ahead, and I've prepared a surprise in London—hurry back."
"Got it. Safe travels, Lord El-Melloi."
"You too, Miss Aozaki."
Hearing Kayneth's instructions, Aozaki Touko nodded slightly, agreeing.
They parted at the intersection before Kayneth's cab.
Watching the taxi fade, Aozaki Touko's mind replayed Kayneth's words about finding that guy a wife, stirring complex feelings.
"...Really, what am I moping about? Who he marries has nothing to do with me."
Shaking her head, Aozaki Touko soon banished the stray thoughts.
"Pack the workshop, charter a flight for transport, track Asagami Fujino... Huh, intel on Jewel-ranked Mystic Eyes—interesting, truly interesting. Never noticed before. This little Mifune City hides so much mystery. Wonder where that guy gets his info sources."
"But what's that to me?! Great, with all these gains, I'm rich now. Screw lemon-head Kayneth's instructions and troublemaker Roy's tasks—shopping time!!"
Humming a tune, in high spirits, Aozaki Touko turned and dashed into the nearest shopping street.
***
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