TYPE-MOON Universe, Earth, Japan, Fuyuki city.
Eventually, Elicia's laughter died down. When it did, the trio decided to broach a few topics they had only touched on briefly since Sakura first came to stay with them.
"So, I don't know how much longer we have until the Holy Grail War officially starts." Tatsuo said, a semi-serious expression on his face. "But there are a few things we should probably do before it does."
"For one, we need to get Sakura to summon her Servant." Elicia added. "We gotta reunite her with her sister, too."
"Exactly." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "Then, we need to start trying to gather information on the other Masters and Servants, provided we can find them or if they've even arrived in Fuyuki yet."
"That's true." Elicia replied with a nod. "Still, information gathering is never a bad idea. And with your Assassin-Class skills and your [Noble Phantasm], you'll have no problem doing just that, will you, Assassin."
"That shouldn't be a problem." Tatsuo replied. "The only issue will be finding the other Masters. I mean, they don't' really give off a different feeling than normal Magi. But I guess just investigating all the Magi in Fuyuki should do the job."
Elicia nodded in response with Tatsuo's assessment. Sakura, on the other hand, looked at Tatsuo with a little worry in her gaze.
"Don't worry about him, Sakura." Elicia said with a reassuring smile. "Assassin is one of the stronger Servants. And based on his [Saint Graph], he might even be the strongest Assassin in the Throne of Heroes."
"Really?" Sakura asked in a tone willed with awe and wonder. She then turned back to look at Tatsuo with curiosity.
"Sorry, can't tell you his real identity, Sakura." Elicia said, seeing straight through Sakura's thoughts. "As another Master, that would put us at a serious disadvantage, you know? Even if you plan to work with us to purify the Holy Grail, there's still no guarantee that the Servant you summon will think the same."
"I suppose you're right." Sakura replied, sounding a bit downcast. "Still, I can't help being curious."
"Anyway, the things we should think about first are the two things Lici mentioned." Tatsuo said, not wanting to continue the topic. "We need to either summon Sakura's Servant or take her to the Tohsaka residence to meet her sister."
Tatsuo then turned to Sakura and looked directly into her eyes.
"So, which one do you want to do first, Sakura?" Tatsuo asked.
Taking a few moments to think about the answer to Tatsuo's question, sakura shifted her gaze between the two people who saved her from the living hell she had endured for ten years. Then, after coming to a conclusion, she opened her mouth to answer the question.
"I think I'll…"
Meanwhile, at the Tohsaka Residence, Rin, who had been working on some magical exercises that her father left for her before he passed away, was in deep thought when she received a visit from someone from the mage's Association.
They were here to inform her that Kotomine Kirei, her guardian and teacher, had been arrested after trying to steal a Master in this year's Holy Grail War's [Command Spells]. On top of that, from the testimonies from that Master and the one who saved her, it was mentioned that Kirei was in a contract with Gilgamesh, the Servant that her father summoned for the last Holy Grail War.
Even worse, that bit of information pushed the Association to surmise that Kirei was the one who killed Rin's father, Tokiomi. Though, they did not have enough evidence to prove it without a doubt. Still, after putting the pieces together in her head, Rin believed it whole heartedly. Unfortunately, she was not there to see the moment when Kirei, who she had already despised, was taken down.
"I hope I get to meet them, though." Rin said after closing the door behind the member of the Mage's Association as they left. "I need to thank them for giving that slimy man what he deserved. *Sigh* But did they really need to interrogate me, too? I mean, so what if he was my guardian? I was in no way involved in all the shady things he did."
As she muttered to herself, Rin walked through the Tohsaka Residence, making her way back to her workshop. Along the way, she could not help but remember her mother and father, who she lost ten years ago. And when she started to think about her sister, Sakura, her expression hardened.
"I bet he had something to do with her disappearance, too." Rin said in an almost feral tone. "I hope they can torture the information out of him. And after they do, keep torturing him until he can't take it anymore and dies."
Shaking her head to rid herself of such angry thoughts, Rin continued towards her workshop to try and complete what her father left for her.
"There's no time to think about that bastard." Rin said as she quickened her pace. "For now, the only thing I need to do is finish what father left for me. When I do, I'll be ready to participate in the Holy Grail War. AT least, that's what he told me before he sent me away with mother back then."
At the same time, back in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in a suite on the third floor from the top, Bazett had just returned after the ordeal with Kirei. Upon entering the suite's living room, she flopped down on the couch, looking rather exhausted.
"I suppose it makes sense that you're tired, Bazett." Lancer said after materializing from his astral form. "Still, you shouldn't let your guard down. As far as we know, those two could be the ones on the top floor, you know?"
"Yes, Lancer, I'm well aware." Bazett said, sounding just as tired as she looked. "But I don't 'think we need to worry about that. Because if she was really a danger to us in the hotel, she would have attacked us back at the church. Instead, she even slapped her Servant upside the head when he threatened us."
"Pfft! Yeah." Lancer snorted in laughter after remembering that scene. "He must be some kind of simp if he just let his Master do that in front of another Magus."
However, Lancer could not have been further from the truth. For one, the swat Elicia gave him did not even hurt. Rather, Tatsuo knew that Elicia was just having fun, as she does in most situations. On top of that, since she was quite a bit stronger than he was at this point, he knew that there was nothing he could do if she had been serious.
Besides, after getting to know her during the wyvern hunting trip in the ICDS Universe, he knew that she would never take it too far. Especially since Tatsuo was the closest thing she would get to Alfonzo's cooking while on this mission. And both he and Elicia knew that Elicia might break down if Tatsuo refused to cook for the whole time they were in this world.
"Actually, I think that was just an act those two were putting on." Bazett said while staring out of the floor to ceiling windows. "Like a good-cop, bad-cop routine. Besides, I'm sure you noticed, with all the bickering he did with you, he looked like he was having fun."
Lancer paused when he heard that. He then stopped to think back on all the barbs he and the Assassin through at each other during their wait for the people from the mage's Association. And when he thought about it hard enough, he could not help but admit that Bazett was right.
"Now that you mention it." Lancer said in a contemplative tone. "You're right. Everything he said, it seemed like he knew what would get under my skin. But how can that be? Maybe he's an Assassin from the same time period and region as me?"
Hearing Lancer's words, a bit of Bazett's exhaustion seemed to disappear as her eyes widened and she turned to look at Lancer intently. To be honest, she had never even considered something like that. Instead, she only thought that the Assassin they met earlier was just trolling Lancer out of boredom.
"that's not outside the realm of possibility." Bazett muttered as she lowered her head in thought. She then raised her head once again and made eye contact with Lancer as she continued. "So, do you know any famous assassins from that time frame?"
In response, Lancer stopped to think for a few minutes, Bazett staying silent to let him do so. However, by the time he was done thinking, Lancer could only shrug his shoulders.
"Not that I can think of." Lancer replied. He then continued in a proud tone. "Even when I was tied to that rock, no one could best me in combat. Even with all the wounds I had already suffered."
Bazett smiled when she heard that. The story of Lancer, or rather, Cú Chulainn, tying himself to a stone so that he could die with pride while standing on his feet in the midst of battle was one of the reasons she wanted to summon him for the Holy Grail War.
"Although that is quite impressive, that doesn't help us narrow down the identity of that Assassin." Bazett replied while shaking her head.
"That's the point, Little Lady." Lancer said with a smile. "We don't need to know who he is. No one can defeat me in head-on combat. On top of that, I've killed every assassin who ever tried to kill me, as well."
"*Sigh* I suppose that's better than making wild guesses." Bazett muttered while shaking her head. "It would be even worse if we planned for one Servant, only for that Assassin to be someone else entirely."
Meanwhile, in a large, western castle located in what appeared to be a forest, though it was more like an undeveloped area, about an hour's drive away from Miyama Town, a slender young woman with red eyes and standing at about 5'4" tall wearing a predominately white made outfit with a hood that completely covered her hair quickly made her way through the castle's halls.
As she did, the young woman could not help but think that things might be dangerous for her master during this trip to Fuyuki for the Holy Grail War. Especially after receiving the news that the overseer from the Holy Church was arrested. More importantly than that, the was a Servant that could kill a powerful Servant like the Archer from the last Holy Grail War, Gilgamesh, participating in this iteration of the ritual.
Eventually, the young woman reached a large hall with a staircase. When she did, she saw a young woman, who looked as though she could not be more than twelve or thirteen years old, though she was actually eighteen, standing at the bottom of the stairs while looking out the hall's windows at the scenery surrounding the castle.
The second young woman, as previously mentioned only looked like a girl just entering her teenage years. Though, she was shorter than average, standing at only 4'4" tall. She had mid-back length white hair, pale white skin, and crimson red eyes. Also, she wore a collared, purple shirt, a lighter purple scarf, a white skirt that fell below her knees, and a pair of purple boots.
"Miss Illyasviel, there's news from the Association." The maid said as she entered the hall. "I think you should see this immediately."
Upon hearing the maid's voice, the young woman, Illyasviel von Einzbern, turned away from the window to look at her. She then held out her hand to accept the report that she was sure her maid was carrying once she drew nearer.
"Calm down, Sella." Illyasviel said with a smile. "You're getting too flustered. There should be no one who can defeat my Servant during the Holy Grail War this time."
As she spoke, the maid, Sella, put the report in Illyasviel's hand, and the white-haired young woman wasted no time reading it. And as she read further and further into the report, her smile widened.
"Well, this should make things more interesting." Illyasviel said as she looked up from the report and handed it back to Sella. "An Assassin who could sneak up on and take out Gilgamesh without him even noticing? I wonder if he would be able to sneak through the castle's [bounded Fields] without being discovered. And if he did, I wonder if he would be able to get past Berserker."
"I think it would be prudent to make more preparations for an Assassin Servant of such skill, Miss." Sella said, her tone growing more frantic with every word. "And should that not be possible, I could kill every human in this city. That way, the Master who summoned that Servant would be sure to die, as well."
"Calm down, Sella." Illyasviel said while shaking her head. "*Sigh* You really do go overboard when it comes to protecting me. But I understand your concerns. Still, you don't need to worry so much. Berserker will protect me."
As she said that, Illyasviel looked out the window once again. When she did, she saw a topless, dark grey skinned behemoth of a man sitting under a tree in the castle's courtyard with a large, axe-like sword leaning against his chest.
This man was the Berserker Illyasviel mentioned, who at his full height, stood 8'3" inches tall and weighed 685 lbs. On top of that, the lack of humanity in his features made it clear that he was a Berserker-Class Servant. And based on his great size and the muscles on his body that seemed to be chiseled from stone, it was clear that he was quite a powerful servant, as well.
"Just like he always has." Illyasviel said as she smiled fondly at the giant man sitting in the castle's courtyard. "More importantly, I wonder if he'll be a Master during this Grail War. I sure hope so... I'm really looking forward to meeting you, Big Brother."
Not only Rin, Bazett, and Illyasviel received the news about the Grail War's overseer being arrested by the Mage's Association, as the news reached nearly every Magi interested in the outcome of the Holy Grail War. Though, the other Masters were the most interested in this news, as it gave them information on two of their future opponents once the Grail War officially started.