'If I remember correctly, in this Holy Grail War, Lancer's Master came from the Clock Tower.'
'If Alvin didn't lie to me, then I really have no need to deliberately make the Greater Grail of Fuyuki exist permanently.'
Thinking of this, Sajyou Manaka subconsciously raised her head and looked at the boy.
"I know you won't completely believe what I say, but I don't want to keep interacting with you only in the state of a Servant."
Alvin looked sincerely at the Princess of the Root and continued, "I think you misunderstood what I said just now. Precisely because I am your Servant, the feelings I have for my Master are limited to the relationship between master and servant."
Alvin paused. His gaze softened, "But if in the future I become a student at the Clock Tower, I hope I can stay with you all the time."
Those words were incredibly sincere, and Sajyou Manaka could not help but freeze for a moment.
She subconsciously lifted her head. Their eyes met, then she quickly lowered her gaze again.
The elegant and pure girl was right in front of him. Faintly, there seemed to be a light fragrance in the air. A trace of blush still lingered on her pale and innocent little face.
After a long silence, she finally said softly, "Will I really be able to see you at the Clock Tower?"
"I won't lie to you about something like that."
As Alvin spoke, his tone suddenly became much lower, carrying a hint of helplessness.
"Sorry. If I had known from the beginning what you were thinking, maybe things wouldn't have taken so many twists and turns."
Sajyou Manaka lacked love far too much. Omniscience and omnipotence had given her godlike power, but at the same time, she had no clear understanding of what was 'good' and what was 'bad'.
Killing people or causing trouble for others brought her no moral burden whatsoever. This was the result of never properly forming a sense of right and wrong while growing up.
Since that was the case, he might as well guide Manaka onto the right path himself.
Sajyou Manaka gently shook her head and said softly, "It's not your fault you couldn't guess what I was thinking, Saber. At the beginning, I didn't plan to carry out the plan of permanently preserving the Greater Grail so quickly."
If it hadn't been for that bullet fired by Emiya Kiritsugu at the time, perhaps she would still be Alvin's Master now, and none of the events afterward would have happened.
"However, the thought of wanting to stay with you forever appeared on the very first day of the Holy Grail War."
As she said this, she guided Alvin's hand and gently placed it on her cheek. Looking up at the boy, she asked softly, "Can I trust you?"
Alvin silently looked into Sajyou Manaka's uneasy eyes.
He could feel that she didn't completely believe what he had just said. Even now, she still held doubts.
But even so, the girl had chosen to believe him this once.
Even if it was only for that trust, he had to see this through to the end, Alvin smiled and said, "Of course. After the Holy Grail War ends, I'll wait for you at the Clock Tower."
Seeing the shyness and joy in the girl's eyes, Alvin added at the right moment, "It looks like the snow will be very heavy tonight. I'll send you inside to rest for a while."
Perhaps because of the Holy Grail War, or perhaps because the three founding families of Fuyuki had cleared the area in advance, there wasn't a single person inside Ryuudou Temple tonight.
Sajyou Manaka followed Alvin inside and temporarily sheltered from the wind and snow under the eaves.
Sitting in front of the veranda, she soon lazily supported herself with both hands behind her.
The heavy snow from earlier had made that gorgeous outfit cling tightly to her body. Her chest rose slightly, accentuating the budding curves of the young girl and making them particularly alluring.
Her pair of azure eyes were clear and pure. No matter how one looked at them, there wasn't a trace of impurity. She lacked the seductive charm of a mature woman, but possessed the lively innocence unique to a young girl.
Because of the heavy snow tonight, her clothes and even her shoes and socks were slightly damp. Beneath her half-length skirt were a pair of delicate short boots.
They swung back and forth.
"My whole body is soaked. Help me take off my shoes," Sajyou Manaka suddenly said.
Alvin had been looking at the 'Greater Grail' in the sky while thinking about the next step of his plan. Hearing the girl's words, he finally snapped back to his senses.
"You could do something like that yourself too, right?"
Although his tone sounded somewhat helpless, he still walked to her side, bent down, and reached out to grab one of her calves.
From this angle, he could vaguely see Sajyou Manaka's gaze looking down at him from above. One hand supported her snow-white chin, and a trace of amusement seemed to color those azure eyes.
Faintly, he could smell that light fragrance again.
With his thoughts slightly in disarray, Alvin grabbed her short boot with one hand and applied a little force. The boot slid off.
However, just as Alvin was about to stand up, he suddenly heard the girl speak again.
"And the socks?"
"..."
'I am the dignified White Dragon of Britain… and I'm actually doing this for a girl?'
That was what he thought, but since he had already done half of it, Alvin didn't mind finishing the rest.
After he removed her small white ankle socks, Sajyou Manaka's pair of tender white feet were finally free to stretch.
"Ah! That's much better. Being all wet just now was so uncomfortable."
After happily stretching lazily for a moment, she lowered her head and looked at the boy curiously a few times.
Then Sajyou Manaka tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Why are you still squatting there? Don't tell me you want to lick them?"
The moment her voice fell, a special CG quietly appeared in his field of vision.
[You are currently triggering a special CG achievement with the Princess of the Root. Different special CG images will appear based on your choice.]
[Yes / No]
'This system really has a strange side to it. Why would it even collect such weird CG achievements?'
'Isn't that fetish variety a little too rich?'
When Alvin saw the system prompt appear before his eyes, his expression gradually became more and more interesting.
After a brief silence, he quickly coughed lightly and said, "Why would you suddenly ask such a strange question?"
Sajyou Manaka's fair and delicate little foot was still swaying in front of his eyes. With her fingertip, she elegantly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear while carefully observing Alvin's expression.
"That's because you've been staring at my feet the whole time just now. I thought you were really interested."
At the end of her sentence, she lightly touched her pink lips with her fingertip and tilted her head.
"Looks like I misunderstood?"
It wasn't exactly a misunderstanding. In truth, Alvin wasn't really a foot fetishist in the strict sense. His tastes were extremely broad, and they often changed depending on the woman in front of him.
After all, with a girl like Sajyou Manaka, even if he wanted to prefer large breasts, that wouldn't exactly be possible, right?
Of course, the pure and lively aura that girls of this age gave off was something mature older women simply didn't have.
Alvin opened his mouth, but before he could continue speaking, Sajyou Manaka went on.
"I was just joking. If you had actually agreed just now, it would have made things a little embarrassing."
'If you'd answered any slower I might've taken it seriously,' Alvin muttered inwardly, glancing at Sajyou Manaka.
Even in the dim light, the girl's skin remained pale and delicate. Beneath her long skirt, her small feet looked soft and fair, with a faint translucent sheen.
It seemed like her toenails were painted with a light layer of pink polish, glittering slightly.
"Saber?"
Noticing the boy's gaze, Sajyou Manaka subconsciously drew her feet back a little and looked at him suspiciously.
"You weren't seriously considering it just now, were you?"
As her words fell, the two options from earlier quietly disappeared. In their place, a CG image from the system appeared in his vision.
The scene showed Ryuudou Temple late at night in heavy snowfall. The girl sitting in front of the veranda supported her chin with one hand. Her azure eyes carried a faint trace of shyness… and the corners of her lips curved slightly upward in a satisfied smile.
[You have completed the current special achievement: A Night at Ryuudou Temple – Part One]
'Part one… meaning there's a part two, or even a part three to this achievement?'
"Let's stop joking around for now. It's about time we got down to business."
At this moment, Sajyou Manaka suddenly looked up at the boy. Her gaze seemed much more serious.
She reached out her hand toward Alvin and gently held one of his hands.
"Saber, sign a contract with me again."
"As long as I'm your Master, no matter what your purpose is for participating in this Holy Grail War, we'll definitely be able to achieve it."
'Don't you think what we were just doing counted as business,' Alvin nodded lightly.
"Alright."
Seeing the boy accept her "invitation" so easily, Sajyou Manaka was the one who froze this time.
"Aren't you worried that after I become your Master, I might use Command Seals to force you to do something?"
After all, including the Command Seals she had seized earlier from Irisviel, Sajyou Manaka currently possessed a total of five Command Seals.
If Alvin became her Servant and she immediately used Command Seals, with the reinforcement of five Command Seals, even the White Dragon's powerful magic resistance wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Hadn't he thought about that possibility?
"If I were worried, I wouldn't have come to find you so openly in the first place."
Alvin looked up at the girl and smiled.
"Besides, didn't you choose to believe in me too?"
"Because I think you wouldn't lie to me."
Sajyou Manaka's tone sounded completely natural, as if she had just stated something perfectly ordinary.
Looking at her figure and that bright smile, Alvin suddenly became curious about how Sajyou Manaka had lived in her own era.
At first, she had become interested in Alvin because he wasn't within the perception range of her 'omniscience and omnipotence'. In this world, there was probably no second person who could block omniscience like that.
Alvin suddenly asked, "Do you have any other friends you can play with? If you really stay at the Clock Tower in the future, won't you feel lonely?"
"Friends?"
Sajyou Manaka thought for a moment.
"If I have to say, there's one, but that's my younger sister."
"Most of the time I just play by myself. When I was little, I liked researching all kinds of magecraft. Many elders praised my talent, but the people in my family all said I was too withdrawn. Sometimes after inventing a new spell, I'd just hide in a corner and giggle to myself."
Sajyou Manaka recalled her experiences in the Sajou family.
"But my parents trusted me quite a lot. They both believed I would become an excellent magus in the future."
Perhaps because of the past few days of busyness, or perhaps simply because Alvin was here, her body was completely relaxed.
She rested the side of her face on his lap and gently closed her eyes.
Alvin looked at her soft light-golden hair in the dimness. A candle burned on the veranda in the wind and snow, and faint chill lingered in the air.
His fingers moved slightly. Suddenly he felt the urge to reach out, touch her face, and ruffle her hair.
Thinking about it carefully, he realized he had never asked about Sajyou Manaka's family before. Omniscience didn't mean living a happy life. On the contrary, because her talent was so dazzling, she was more likely to feel lonely.
Because there was no one who resonated on the same wavelength as her.
When Alvin had first arrived at the Clock Tower, he had also been someone who kept to himself. He often played games alone in his room. Late at night, when everything was quiet, he would look out the window at the night sky and suddenly feel an inexplicable emptiness in his heart.
If he hadn't met the El-Melloi siblings, perhaps he would still just be an ordinary student at the Clock Tower now, and none of the strange experiences afterward would have happened.
Even though that teacher of his was somewhat harsh toward other students… at least he treated Alvin quite well.
It was precisely because of that that he had intentionally manifested in this Holy Grail War as a Servant, hoping at the very least to ensure that Kayneth could safely return to the Clock Tower.
"You're already an excellent magus."
Alvin suddenly said.
Sajyou Manaka opened her eyes and said seriously, "But whether I can become an excellent magus isn't important to me."
"I don't need other people's recognition."
People who needed recognition from others were usually those who hadn't received much attention when they were young, or those who lacked confidence in themselves.
But Sajyou Manaka had been the most dazzling existence in her family since childhood, a genius filled with expectations.
The praise and agreement from those around her, the envy from her peers, even the admiration from her younger sister… she had experienced such feedback far too many times.
She had long since become numb to it.
But there was only one thing Sajyou Manaka truly wanted.
And the only person who could fulfill that wish was also just one.
"Saber, before the real battle begins, I still have a question."
Sajyou Manaka looked straight into Alvin's eyes.
"You said you would wait for me at the Clock Tower…"
"In other words, you're not truly a Servant, right?"
Alvin nodded.
Sajyou Manaka raised her head and gazed into the boy's eyes, speaking softly.
"Even after the Holy Grail War ends in the future, will you still stay by my side?"
When she asked that question, her eyes stared straight at Alvin. Even the slightest hesitation from him now might shake her heart.
But Alvin had already thought this through on his way here.
So he nodded immediately.
"Of course."
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