"Not human???"
Prisma Illya's face paled with terror. "Mr. Jiang You, he he he..."
"He's been dead for ages. Now he's a servant," Illya replied dismissively. Jiang You made no effort to conceal his aura; anyone with even a basic understanding of Spell could instantly recognize him as a servant.
Prisma Illya couldn't grasp the full implications of the word "servant," nor did she understand it. In an instant, she seemed to fall apart.
"Eeeek!"
"Looks like you haven't learned a thing about magecraft." Illya chuckled, looking at her naive counterpart. It was as if she had gained a clumsy younger sister, allowing her to adopt a slightly superior "older sister" attitude.
"I remember you were still working on your homework, right? Let me help you with that. While we're at it, I'll also fill you in on some magic basics. Mystic Codes are useful, but maintaining your fundamental combat abilities is still crucial. You never know when you might face an unexpected situation."
"Th-then I'll leave it to you."
Prisma Illya cautiously glanced in Jiang You's direction. Until Illya explained the details of servant-related knowledge, she dared not approach him.
After summoning Hundred Faces and instructing her to take Shirou Emiya and his best friend Issei to Hawaii for a vacation, Jiang You ordered extravagant ingredients and hosted a lavish banquet at the Emiya household. Once everyone was full and satisfied, Sella, from this world, kicked Jiang You out unceremoniously. The Emiya household had effectively become a miniature matriarchy, with no room for Shirou, let alone Jiang You.
Checking the time, Jiang You realized he still had a while before his appointment with Miyu. He decided to use this time to visit Rin Tohsaka in this world.
Apart from Kiritsugu Emiya winning the Holy Grail War, causing this timeline to diverge from the Main World, other historical events remained largely unchanged. The Tohsaka Family had still fallen into decline after Tokiomi Tohsaka's death. Compounding matters, this world's Rin Tohsaka had inadvertently exaggerated her "clumsy" trait, transforming her into a full-blown comedic character.
When Jiang You arrived at her doorstep, Rin Tohsaka was fiddling with a landline phone, dialing a number from a job advertisement. Even with the Tohsaka Family's decline, she had to maintain appearances. Moreover, the Jewel Magic she had inherited from Kaleidoscope required vast quantities of Jewels, further straining the Tohsaka Family's already meager finances. As a result, Rin Tohsaka often worked part-time jobs after school to supplement their income.
Of course, Rin Tohsaka's "electronics killer" ability had its effect. This time, the phone finally retaliated—Jiang You had never seen a phone literally trap someone before.
Afraid of damaging her phone, Rin didn't dare struggle too violently, causing unnecessary damage. As a result, she remained entangled, unable to get up for quite some time. Eventually, Jiang You couldn't bear to watch any longer and went over to help her untangle the cord.
"Thank you..." Rin Tohsaka breathed a sigh of relief, having narrowly avoided being "single-killed" by a phone—though the true culprit wasn't the phone itself, but her family's poverty. As she expressed her gratitude, she suddenly realized someone was in her home. And it was a stranger—a man!
Her hackles rose instantly. She quickly distanced herself from Jiang You, adopting a combat stance. Simultaneously, her hand stealthily gripped a Jewel behind her back, ready to activate a gandr at the slightest sign of aggression from Jiang You.
"Who are you?! This is Tohsaka Family territory! How did you bypass our Defensive Magic and sneak in here unnoticed? What do you want?!"
Seeing Rin Tohsaka's battle-ready stance, Jiang You realized he had been misunderstood again.
"Is it possible that your family's Defensive Magic isn't even activated?"
Due to severe financial constraints, many parts of the Tohsaka estate remained unrepaired, leaving it only slightly better than its ruined state during the Fourth Holy Grail War, when it was destroyed. Weeds grew rampant in the courtyard, clearly untended for some time, as Rin couldn't afford to hire gardeners. Consequently, the expensive defensive structures, which required Jewels to operate, had been completely shut down, allowing Jiang You to walk in unimpeded.
Rin quickly recalled that she herself had cut off the Magic Supply to the arrays, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"But that still doesn't justify trespassing on private property! And since you understand spells, you must be a Magus, right? Speak! Why have you come here? If you don't give me a satisfactory answer, I'll consider you an enemy. After all, this is my Magic Workshop—you don't think you stand a chance, do you?"
Rin Tohsaka had to carry her family's legacy on her shoulders. Even if she occasionally slipped up, her resolve remained unwavering in moments like this. Showing weakness to fellow Magi could easily lead to being exploited. This wasn't mere bravado; her Magic Workshop was fortified with layers of defensive spells. As its Master, she could activate them simply by channeling magical power into key nodes. Fighting within another Magus's territory was foolish, even reckless, and Rin hoped this display would scare Jiang You away.
"Caution is no vice. You've done splendidly, Rin," Jiang You said.
If this had been the Rin Tohsaka from his own Worldline, Jiang You would have mocked her relentlessly. But since this was their first meeting, he decided to make a good impression.
"As if I needed your approval," Rin retorted, tilting her smooth chin upward. Jiang You's praise pleased her more than she let on. Since her father's death, few had complimented her so sincerely, and she couldn't shake the feeling that this young man knew her far better than he should. That gaze held no trace of a stranger's appraisal.
"And don't try to change the subject! Explain yourself—why did you come here?"
"I came here to ask for your help," Jiang You stated, cutting to the chase. "You're well aware of the Class Card situation, so I won't need to explain it. Have you received any recent intelligence on them? I need to gather them as soon as possible. As the de facto administrator of Fuyuki, Miss Rin Tohsaka, you should know if any anomalies have occurred here, right?"
"Wait a minute! You know about the Class Cards?"
Rin Tohsaka scrutinized Jiang You. He was reasonably handsome, but the magical power radiating from him had an unusual frequency. Intrigued, Rin delved deeper, uncovering a startling truth.
"You're a Servant?!"
"Genuine article," Jiang You confirmed with a nod. There was no point in hiding it; pretending to be human would only complicate matters.
"But the Holy Grail War is over! And the Class Cards don't manifest like this! What exactly is going on?" Rin Tohsaka asked, bewildered.