Stepping out of Fuyuki Station—
Rin Tohsaka looked across the deserted plaza before her.
Under the dim streetlights, the lifeless silence made the city feel even more eerie than usual.
"So this is... Fuyuki City at night..."
"It's completely different from the daytime."
"It gives me a really bad feeling."
For a brief moment, the thought crossed her mind.
Maybe I should just go back...
She immediately shook her head.
No!
I have to find Kotone!
Out of habit, Rin pulled the pocket watch from inside her collar to check whether the surrounding area was safe.
The moment she looked at it, she froze.
The Mana Compass needle was spinning wildly in every direction with no discernible pattern.
"Does that mean magical energy is everywhere?"
"What happened in Fuyuki while I was away?!"
Taking a deep breath to encourage herself, Rin clenched her fists.
"I have to find Kotone!"
With that, the small girl hurried through the deserted streets and alleys of Fuyuki, searching everywhere she could.
Whenever she entered an unlit area, she would take out a silver gemstone and channel a small amount of magical energy into it.
Instantly, it emitted a bright white glow, illuminating the darkness around her.
Tap... tap... tap...
Her hurried footsteps echoed through the empty streets.
The entire city resembled the setting of a horror game.
Every shop still had its lights on...
Yet every building was completely empty.
Rin forced herself not to think about why.
She simply kept running.
After reaching the district she had marked on her map, she finally slowed to catch her breath.
But just then—
As she passed the entrance to a narrow alley, the needle on the Mana Compass suddenly spun around two...
Three...
Almost four complete revolutions.
That was definitely not a good sign.
Clang!
Just as Rin decided to avoid the alley altogether—
The sound of an aluminum can being kicked echoed from within.
Immediately afterward...
A child's weak cry for help drifted through the darkness.
"Help..."
"Someone..."
"Please..."
"...!!"
Rin's heart skipped a beat.
The foot she'd already started to pull back slowly lowered again.
Her luck...
...was almost frightening.
She had stumbled directly onto the scene of a kidnapping.
If I follow whoever did this...
Maybe I'll find where Kotone is being held!
With that thought, Rin tightly gripped the gemstones hidden in her pocket.
Summoning every ounce of courage she had, she pressed herself against the wall and quietly slipped into the darkness of the alley.
"Help!"
"Somebody save me!"
As she approached the next corner, the child's desperate cries became clearer.
Another voice also reached her ears.
A young man's voice.
Unstable...
Almost gleefully deranged.
"Stop screaming."
"You're getting annoying."
"I want my mommy!"
"I want to go home!"
"I told you to shut up!"
Thud!
A heavy, blunt impact rang out.
The child's cries stopped instantly.
Rin hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from making a sound.
Using a large green dumpster as cover, she cautiously peeked around the corner through the narrow gap between the wall and the trash bin.
What she saw...
Made her blood run cold.
An orange-haired young man stood with his back toward her.
He was stuffing the limp body of a little boy—
Whether unconscious or already dead, she couldn't tell—
into a large burlap sack.
Nearby stood a little girl.
Her eyes were vacant.
She neither cried...
Nor fled...
She simply stared blankly at everything unfolding before her.
The ground was soaked in crimson blood.
Judging by the sheer amount...
The boy was almost certainly—
"...!!"
This was the first time Rin had ever witnessed a murder.
Her emerald eyes widened violently.
It felt as though the Grim Reaper himself stood silently behind her...
Watching.
A crushing sense of suffocation tightened around her chest.
Her breathing became ragged.
She wanted to run.
She desperately wanted to escape.
Yet her legs felt as heavy as lead.
They refused to move.
When she finally managed to force herself to step back—
She accidentally bumped into the green dumpster.
The mountain of garbage piled on top instantly lost its balance.
Crash!
The noise echoed throughout the alley.
"Hm?"
Ryunosuke Uryū tilted his head and turned around.
His eyes immediately met a single frightened emerald eye peeking out from behind the corner.
"...!!"
Rin's pupils contracted.
Without hesitation, she poured magical energy into the gemstone she had been clutching.
She threw it with all her strength.
Then turned and sprinted away without looking back.
"AAAAAGH!"
"My eyes!"
The gemstone erupted in a brilliant flash.
The blinding light nearly scorched Ryunosuke's vision.
By the time his eyesight recovered—
The little girl who had been standing beside him had disappeared.
"That damn brat!"
His bloodshot eyes locked onto the direction Rin had fled.
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
Only after her legs completely gave out did Rin finally stop running.
The little girl she had been pulling along was equally exhausted.
Even so...
Her eyes remained lifeless.
"What's your name?"
"..."
"Wake up!"
"Please wake up!"
Rin shook the girl's shoulders repeatedly.
The child merely swayed like a puppet with its strings cut.
There was no response whatsoever.
"What am I supposed to do now...?"
Rin frowned.
She still had to rescue Kotone.
She couldn't keep dragging another child around with her.
At that moment, her father's teachings resurfaced in her mind.
"Rin, whether it's deep hypnotic suggestion or a shallow mental suggestion, if you condense magical energy of a sufficiently high quality into a needle and pierce the target's mind, there's a good chance you can forcibly dispel it."
"But be careful."
"The amount of magical energy and the depth of the strike must be perfectly controlled."
"Make one mistake, and you could permanently damage the person's brain."
"Don't use such a crude method unless there's absolutely no other choice."
Rin slapped her own cheeks.
"All right!"
"For a genius like me..."
"Nothing's impossible!"
Without truly appreciating how catastrophic failure could be...
Rin simply decided it was her best option.
Green magical energy gathered at her fingertip.
Without the slightest hesitation...
She pressed it against the girl's temple.
"Ahhh!"
"It hurts!"
The little girl clutched her head and cried out.
Fortunately...
She appeared perfectly lucid.
"Hmph!"
"I knew it!"
"I'm a genius after all!"
Rin proudly placed both hands on her hips.
Just then—
Red and blue lights flashed across the alley.
Moments later, the blinding beams of police headlights swept over the street.
Rin's smug smile froze.
She quickly ducked back into the shadows.
Hidden inside the alley, she silently watched as the police officers gently carried the rescued girl into a patrol car.
Only then did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Whew..."
"Thank goodness."
"I definitely can't let them take me home right now."
She had barely finished speaking—
When she suddenly felt a hand settle heavily on her shoulder.
"...!!"
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