Rin would rather die than let such a photo exist in the world. Who knew when an accident, an oversight, a mistake, carelessness, or a lack of attention might cause it to leak? Rin would then shatter her own skull and die; what face would she have to live in the world?
And so, in Touko's 'despair and loss intertwined' gaze, the 'criminal tool' phone was smashed to smithereens by Rin, becoming a pile of dust.
"Ah... my photo~"
"You still dare to mention photos!"
I had already posed, and you were taking pictures! Do you think you're surnamed Chen?!
Rin, taking the lead, used magic to condense a temporary outfit and went out to get Touko some spare clothes. Afterward, the two of them left the magic workshop in the dragon source together.
Rin and Touko returned to the Tohno Family residence together. Touko was now living with Rin, while Aoko and Alice had returned to the Kuonji Mansion on Shirainuzuka. Rin had asked Touko why she wasn't with Aoko. According to Touko, the sisters had grown accustomed to living separately since childhood, believing that only with distance could they cherish their fond memories of each other. Since they could see each other whenever they wished, there was no need to stay constantly together.
After three months of secluded technical development, although satisfactory results were achieved, time was also becoming increasingly short. According to Rin's calculations, only five months remained until the opening of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
Everything must be concluded as soon as possible. Thinking this, Rin sat at her desk, reviewing the business documents handled by Akiba over the past three months. Finally, she let out a long sigh and tossed the last document onto the table. She hadn't changed a single word from beginning to end.
It seems Akiba is truly a born young lady. This way, I can confidently continue my own battle.
"Kohaku, go and contact all non-bottom-level personnel in the family and organization to gather. I have something important to say."
"Yes."
Rin spent two days officially transferring all administrative authority of the Rose Group and the Tohno Family to Akiba. Afterward, she booked a flight to London for tomorrow.
She placed a sealed doll into her magic pouch, checked various credit cards, bank cards, identification documents, and her passport in her wallet. Finally, she opened the suitcase Kohaku had packed for her. Because wheeled luggage was too cumbersome, and Rin had no interest in flashy clothes nor did she need to bring various cosmetics and jewelry, she had only prepared a black handbag with a few spare clothes.
After everything was packed, she moved to the window, opened it, and gazed out at Misaki City, where she had lived and strived for nearly two years. She found herself lost in thought, looking at the familiar buildings and streets outside the window, the coming and going of people and cars, and silently sighed, "It's time to set off again."
Since Rin was determined to change all the predetermined tragedies of this world, it was destined that she could not settle down in one place. This world never stopped for a moment, with various events constantly occurring, and Rin had to continuously pursue her journey. There was no time for her to rest; perhaps this life would be spent advancing through endless adventures and journeys.
When will I ever have a stable home...? Looking back at the ready handbag on the floor, Rin thought wistfully, but then immediately gave a self-deprecating smile and shook her head.
If I craved stability, why did I pray to come to this world in the first place? The things I once disdained, only after letting them go do I recall their goodness. Embracing that hope, I should have this realization: infinite wonders on an infinite journey, that is my pursuit in this life!
Having adjusted her mindset, Rin jumped onto the large Simmons mattress she had slept on for several months, sprawling out like a big character. She sank into the soft duvet, beginning to fantasize about the expectations for the upcoming Fourth Holy Grail War.
Undoubtedly, among the entire Nasuverse, what Rin loved and anticipated most was the Holy Grail War storyline. The opportunity to confront the spirits of heroes from different eras, whom she had only seen in epic chronicles, games, novels, and anime, made Rin uncontrollably excited, regardless of the outcome or purpose.
Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the first knight of the Fianna Knights, with his two spears and two swords from Celtic Mythology, known as the "Luminous Face."
Alexander Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, the greatest military genius in European history, the most famous conqueror of the Macedonian Empire, who successively unified all of Greece, swept across the Middle East, occupied all of Egypt, flattened the Persian Empire, led his army to the Indus River basin, conquered three of humanity's four ancient civilizations, and whose territory spanned three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Gilles de Rais, a French Marshal who was a military commander who won every battle during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. He later fell into madness due to the death of Joan of Arc, becoming a famous black wizard in European history and one of the prototypes for the villainous character "Bluebeard" in Western fairy tales.
King Arthur Artoria Pendragon, the legendary human king who, as a maiden, drew the Sword of Selection, led the Knights of the Round Table, achieved countless feats, unified the British Isles, resisted foreign enemies, dominated the battlefield for 10 years, won 12 major battles consecutively, transforming a weak Britain into an unprecedentedly powerful nation, and ultimately met her demise due to internal strife. She was the red dragon who protected Britain.
And Rin's biggest and most troublesome opponent: Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes! The fifth king of Uruk, a city-state of the Sumerian Dynasty in ancient Mesopotamia, the protagonist of the oldest human epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest "King of Heroes," "two-thirds god, one-third human," with an arrogant personality, once a tyrant who believed no one could defeat him, possessing the original prototypes of all noble phantasms held by heroes!
And in Rin's possession, Lancelot, the "knight of the lake," the strongest among King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, the First Knight, whose martial arts surpassed King Arthur's, and who once earned supreme military renown by slaying evil dragons as a wandering knight.
These legendary figures, renowned in human history and epics, gathering on the same battlefield for a fight, and being able to be a part of it—in Rin's view, this was the greatest charm of the Holy Grail War!
Even if I die in this war, having once been so captivated by it, I should have no regrets... One, two, three, four, five, six... Huh?! Did I miscount one?
King of Conquerors, My King, Lancer, Berserker, Marshal C, Gilgamesh... That's right, aren't these the only Servants in the Fourth Holy Grail War?
Rin couldn't help but sit up, scratching her head in distress, but she just couldn't remember.
"Kohaku, go and contact all non-bottom-level personnel in the family and organization to gather. I have something important to say."
It's been too long, I don't remember much, so let it be. If I can't even recall it, they must have been insignificant.
Assassin cried himself unconscious in the restroom...
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